


Connie Swap Episode 22: Highs and Lows

by br42, BurdenKing, MjStudioArts



Series: Connie Swap [22]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Anxiety, Art, Deaf, Deaf Character, Drama, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Momswap, Music, Pictures, Platonic Romance, Slice of Life, Steven Universe AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-07 21:59:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14680323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/br42/pseuds/br42, https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurdenKing/pseuds/BurdenKing, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MjStudioArts/pseuds/MjStudioArts
Summary: The newest corrupted gem is too dangerous for humans, and gemtech fares little better. As such Connie, Peridot, and Steven are benched, leaving only Jasper and Lapis to fight it. On the battlefield and in the Beach House, things are tense as everyone reels from the gravity of the situation.





	1. Limbo

Wolf drank from his dish, licked his chops, then padded over to where Steven and Connie were sitting on the couch. The girl was slumped, her expression pained. Wolf nuzzled her hand, earning a weak smile and a feeble scratch of his muzzle.

The pieces of his Dogbo costume were piled just inside the door, little jerks and wiggles shifting the heap. Wally was inside finding and removing all the dog hair like a particularly fastidious mole.

Lapis, seated on the floor near the warp pad, looked confused. One hand was resting on the hardwood floor, arm straight and propping her upright while the other was idly playing with the Jasper's hair. "That monster fell out of that temple-thingy Jasper and Con-con busted up back in November?"

The large Quartz was lying with her head in Lapis' lap. The crack to her gemstone had been healed but the warrior seemed in no rush to rise. "The upside down pyramid," she clarified, her gaze remaining on Lapis' features. "Also, I think it made the storm near the Quartz Pack. Threw it at us. Same roar."

Peridot stood on the far side of the living room wearing a baggy sweater despite the July heat. One sleeve was flared out as it stretched around her limb enhancer. The other was floppy as it hid the comparatively tiny tech-free arm within. She held the floppy sleeve against her chest like a broken arm in a sling and her expression was forlorn. "The Scolecite was embedded within the inverted pyramid structure. I still cannot fathom the purpose of the edifice itself, but the gem was clearly powering the complex and manipulating gravity within. It directing the contents of a snow-covered mountain slope at us in Manikota would indeed be within its powers."

"Do you think the corrupted gem person would be happier if we made her, like, a pyramid-shaped house? I mean, Lion has a scratching post that looks like a tree..." offered Steven, the boy sitting close to Connie and looking thoughtful.

Wally emerged from the costume heap, a few errant yellow hairs clinging to its chassis, and began crossing the living room. Its destination was the pile of limb enhancer remains on the floor beside Peridot. As soon as the technician realized what the ersatz robonoid was heading towards she summoned a hologram with her remaining tech and jabbed it angrily, the motion accompanied with a searing glare. 

The robonoid halted abruptly then turned and sped away. It hid under the coffee table, trembling slightly.

Glare cooling, Peridot looked back to Steven and said, "When Scolecites were still being produced, they would be poofed and embedded as soon as they emerged. The motivations of corrupted gems are frequently confused, but I suspect this specimen is experiencing embodiment for the first time and seeking to be re-embedded. An ersatz pyramid temple, therefore, would prove as frustrating to it as the like-shaped sensor towers it keeps accosting."

"Pyra wants to go back to not having a body?"

Everyone turned and looked at Connie, even Jasper from Lapis' lap. The blue gem caressed the Quartz' mane and said with a raised eyebrow, "Pyra?"

Connie's hunch deepened slightly, her expression chagrinned. "Oh, uh, that's the name I've been calling her in my head since, well, since the pyramid mission."

Jasper, with a degree of reluctance, rose until she was sitting upright. "All gems need a purpose. Some will fight to get to choose theirs. Some will fight so they don't have to."

Lapis gave Jasper a lingering look that was... appraising. Then she shook her head and said, "What I don't get is why Pyra --cute name by the way-- why Pyra is coming our way. You and Jasper popped her loose from the Honeysuckle Battlefield, which is way the heck out there. Then Manikota and- Well jank me, that's how I got cracked flying around looking for Amethyst!" she exclaimed.

Jasper snarled, one hand curling into a fist while the other gripped Lapis' shoulder in angry solidarity. Connie swayed, her face falling to her hands as though her guilt was a physical weight she was buckling under. Steven was quick to scoot closer, patting her back consolingly. Wolf laid unhappily across the girl's feet, his bulk pushing the coffee table (and cowering robonoid) aside with a scraping noise of wood-on-wood.

Peridot had a holographic display of the globe, a series of sites flashing red in sequence. "The Scolecite was released in Norway and if we plot the incidents of sensor tower damage forward through time we see a course from there to Iceland, then to Canada, and down through the continental United States in the direction of Delmarva. There is indeed a trail being followed and if it is as I suspect, then several ever-closer sensor structures will be accosted...” She looked up from the hologram and at the assembled group. “..followed by the temple itself."

Silence hung in the air, all eyes turning to Peridot.

"You, uh, you wanna drop the deets, Dot?" said Lapis in a quiet voice, her eyes wide.

Peridot started to motion with the arm hiding inside the baggy sweater, paused, made a face like she'd bitten something sour, and gestured with her remaining limb enhancer. A large holographic display appeared depicting the triangular silhouette of a sensor tower which Peridot oriented for all to see. "Originally the sensor towers gathered local environmental data and then broadcast it to the communication hub for relay up to the Diamond Base on the Earth's moon. Any sensor towers not in range would instead broadcast to the next such tower, and the message would propagate in a daisy chain fashion to the hub. With this wealth of information, gems from the Diamond Base could direct the planetary terraforming process accurately and remotely. One of my earlier actions upon joining the Crystal Gems was redirecting these broadcasts to the temple instead of the communication hub. This data forms the backbone for my corrupt gem detection network."

Lapis blinked. "Where'd you put the-"

"The antennas are hidden behind the horns up top. I tried not to compromise the temple's aesthetic merits with my enhancements," answered the technician. "The detail I overlooked until just now is that the sensor towers communicate via directed gravitic pulses. These are undetectable to our senses but to a gravity manipulation gem..."

"They're a big red arrow pointing this way?" supplied Steven.

"Indeed. Between the location of the clash earlier and here are only a few more daisy chained sensor towers." Peridot's voice was clinical but her expression was grim.

Connie sniffed, wiping her nose across one sleeve before she drew herself up. Her eyes were sad, but her mouth was a line of resolve. "Then we'll face Pyra at the outermost tower and stage a fighting retreat inward, delaying her tower-by-tower. We buy time, experiment, and find some way to beat her."

The fading light outside angled through a window and shone on Connie's gemstone, making the girl appear to glow.

Jasper and Steven were both looking at Connie with approval and awe, respectively. Lapis' mouth was hanging open. Wolf had raised his head and was panting happily.

"No."

Connie looked at Peridot as though struck.

"The Scolecite's gravitational attacks have negligible effect on hard light bodies. Jasper? I trust your crack was from flung debris rather than sheer gravitic force?"

Jasper nodded, vexation clear on her face. "A lucky hit," she muttered.

"Gemkind adapts swiftly and automatically to local gravity and have little to fear from gravity manipulation as a stand-alone attack. Fragile organic bodies and... delicate technological devices have no such immunity." Peridot's hidden arm clutched her side hard enough to show through the baggy sweater obscuring it. "You and the Steven could have been seriously, possibly _fatally_ injured earlier, and I was... maimed in the assault. This is not a fight the three of us are capable of participating in." Peridot seemed to deflate as the words left her.

Connie opened her mouth to object but all the steel rushed back into Peridot in that instant, the gem suddenly seeming to stand two feet taller. "This is _not_ open to negotiation. Some risks are not taken and this is one of them. Is. That. Clear."

A cloud passed overhead and the glow faded. Connie nodded her head and sank into her seat in defeat.

The aura of absolute maternal authority surrounding Peridot subsided and, like Connie, the gem seemed to shrink. "That established, I must retire to my workshop to..." she looked grimmly down at the heavily damaged components on the floor before her. "I will attempt-" Her breath hitched. Failing to meet anyone's gaze, Peridot muttered something technical sounding, gingerly raised the ruined limb enhancer with a green tractor beam, and retreated into her room.

The door closed on a sob.

* * *

It had been a _day_ and now Lapis was happy just to sit on the couch and watch Steven do something adorkable. Splayed out beside her was Connie, the girl watching the world with a thousand-yard stare that Lapis was all too familiar with. She ran blue fingers through dark hair and patted the girl's back while Connie processed things. 

Lapis got that. Boy, did she ever get that.

It had taken the crumbled up contents of a pack of saltine crackers but Steven had managed to coax Wally out from underneath the coffee table, the robonoid hesitantly following a trail of cracker debris out into the open.

Across the living room, Jasper, back from patrolling the outermost sensor tower site, kept a firm hold on Wolf. The first two attempts at Wally fishing had ended with the salty cracker bits licked up, the hound unable to resist the allure of floor food.

That accomplished, Jasper released Wolf and strode into the kitchen, the dying light of day filtering in through the big windows. The clang of reinforced cookware being retrieved sounded through the Beach House.

"Food?" asked Jasper, the Quartz looking at Steven.

"Oh, thanks but no thanks, Jasper. Mom and dad like me home for dinner when I've had a mission," said the boy as he shook the last of the cracker crumbs out for Wally's benefit.

"Lapis?"

The blue gem seemed surprise by the offer even as she continued attempting to soothe Connie. "What's on the menu, OJ?"

"Grilled cheese. Tomato soup. Connie likes dipping the sandwiches in the soup."

Lapis gave Jasper the latest in a line of appraising looks she'd earned lately. Then, speaking in a cheery voice while patting Connie's back, Lapis said, "If girlie likes it then count me in."

A second grilled cheese sandwich went onto the skillet.

Jasper opened the can of tomato soup --without the help of a can opener, she just pinched the lip of the can with her thumb and forefinger and peeled the top off-- and emptied the contents into a titanium saucepan. Wolf peered over the top of the kitchen counter and whined.

A third grilled cheese sandwich went onto the skillet.

"What happened with the tidal alert?" asked the Quartz standing at the range, her back to the others.

"NOTHING! // Nothing," Steven squeaked and Connie muttered, respectively.

Lapis rolled her eyes. "Just the Moissanite. You know how Peri gets when it swims near shore."

Jasper gave an acknowledging tilt of her head and turned back to her cooking.

Steven finished sending a text and pocketed his phone. "Is miss Peridot going to be alright? She seemed pretty upset." He looked at the temple door with a worried expression.

Lapis felt Connie tense under her hand. "Dot's had her gizmos break before but she always finds a way to get them working again. She's like a green MacGyver. Well, minus the mullet. Anyway, it's upsetting for her but she'll bounce back. Don't, ya know, stress about it, Pinkie; she knows what she's doing."

The tension beneath her hand relaxed. Lapis glanced down and saw Connie close her eyes and take a deep breath, the girl clearly leaving the world to figure itself out for the moment. 

Fortunately Steven was busy gathering up his stuff so he didn't see the questioning look Jasper gave Lapis. Being careful not to disturb Connie, Lapis gave a one-shoulder shrug at the Quartz then motioned with her eyes toward Connie and Steven.

 _I have NO idea how Dot's going to handle this but I can't say that in front of the kids,_ she thought loudly at Jasper.

Another subtle nod and Jasper went back to cooking. Message received.

Steven said his goodbyes to everyone, including to Wolf and Wally. Connie stayed where she was on the couch, eyes closed, and raised a hand to do some of that hand-wiggle stuff that was a like a black hole in Lapis' understanding. Steven seemed satisfied, said a final farewell, and was out the door.

Connie's breathing leveled out and her face relaxed into sleep, Lapis' fingers softly stroking the girl's temple. By the time Jasper finished cooking she was out cold. Speaking softly Lapis said to Jasper, "Just keep hers warm; she can eat after she's had a sanity nap." 

Before retreating back to the kitchen, the Quartz placed a plate holding a sandwich in reach of Lapis' free hand. The bowl of soup went on the coffee table. For any other gem, that would have been inconvenient, but Lapis levitated the ruddy liquid out of the bowl and left it hovering at elbow height nearby.

Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, being her was pretty cool.

Lapis dipped her sandwich in the soup blob and took a bite. Not bad. She'd had better meals, certainly, but not prepared by Jasper, of all people. It was more than a little surreal. Images of Jasper during the Rebellion flickered through Lapis' mind trying and failing to reconcile the domestic display with centuries of memories.

> An inexhaustible wrecking ball; a fixture wherever the fighting was fiercest; the striped arms she fell into the first time Homeworld tried to snipe her; the raging Quartz holding back the Novaculite and two Ruby fusions trying to finish the job; the figure shielding Lapis with her form as red fists the size of basketballs pummeled her; the omnipresent orange glow just before they rose, towering above the slack-jawed lesser fusions and roared their fury-

Lapis jolted, an involuntary flinch away from something painful. Connie murmured her disapproval at the sudden motion and fell back to sleep without ever opening her eyes. Looking down Lapis saw a reddish-brown puddle spreading out, the liquid clashing with the blue feet it was pooling around.

Oops.

Between a hydrokinetic trip down the sink and both Wally and Wolf's attention to the spill, there was no evidence left of Lapis' lapse when Jasper walked out of the temple door. Wait, she'd gone into the temple? How long had Lapis been out of it?

The warrior was holding that alert thingy of hers as well as a book, some thick paperback of Connie's with a creased spine. That was another weird thing Jasper was up to these days that still felt out of place. Jasper had always had one foot in the battlefield; Lapis had joked once that Jasper didn't nap because she had to fight everything, including sleep. Reading a novel, however, seemed about as far from combat as you could get.

Maybe it was a violent book.

Speaking in a loud whisper, Lapis said, "Hey, before you sit down, can you grab me some of my mangas? Sleeping Con-con and all," she said, gesturing to the sleeping girl who had taken to clutching Lapis' left hand like a comfort object.

Jasper set down her alarm gizmo and crossed the living room, six mangas fitting in the grip of a single large, orange hand. Lapis scarfed the rest of her sandwich, wiping her free hand on her shorts in time to receive the books. "Thanks."

The Quartz cracked the ghost of a smile and then sat down on the far side of the couch. Connie had curled up into a loose-fetal position, her knees pulled in close to her body, which meant that her feet weren't in OJ's way.

Wolf could read the room and curled up to snooze on Connie's bed instead of trying to squeeze onto the couch. Wally followed him up to continue the eternal struggle between robonoid and magical dog hair.

Connie made some unhappy murmurs over the next couple of hours, clearly suffering some nightmare or another. Lapis did what she could to soothe the girl while Jasper looked on with the hint of a concerned frown. Connie’s phone vibrated a couple times around when Lapis guessed Pinkie was heading to bed. Other than that, it was quiet as the darkness outside deepened.

A little after midnight Jasper's alarm went off.

* * *

The first thing Connie noticed on waking was that her ears ached. That was because she'd left her hearing aids in. She took them out and set them on what she assumed was her nightstand, rubbing the sore area in silent apology to her ears.

The next thing she noticed was that her mouth tasted funny. And she felt kind of grimy. It was hard to think with sleep still thick behind her eyes but she suspected she hadn't brushed her teeth or showered last night.

Her stomach, seeing that she'd woken up, alerted her to the third detail of the morning, which was that she was starving. Hunger gnawed impatiently at her midsection and she felt the gurgle even though she couldn't hear it.

The fourth thing she noticed was that she was on the couch for some reason. Still, this wasn't a detail she could eat so her stomach vetoed attempts to ponder the matter.

On the kitchen counter was a plate holding a lump of way too much foil. If you looked at it and squinted you could see the faint outline of what was presumably a sandwich within. The plate was stacked on top of a bowl, an ad hoc method of keeping the contents safe from bugs; efficient in a low-effort sort of way. It was all a far cry from the precision-wrapped meals Peridot left: labeled, dated, complete with meticulous instructions for reheating.

Thinking of Peridot started to trigger a flood of memories but once again Connie's stomach overruled all of that, also line-item vetoing any misgivings she had about the food's presentation. Hopping up onto the bar stool, Connie unwrapped a yard of aluminum foil to uncover a room temperature grilled cheese sandwich atop tepid tomato soup.

Both vanished in moments.

Connie was partway into a bowl of cereal when motion in her peripheral vision caught her eye. Looking out the windows she saw a tiny blue figure flying over the bay. The water of the bay rose up in a hill before detaching as a massive, amorphous blob. It was hard to get a sense for the scale of the thing, it being out over the ocean like that, but it was definitely some variety of _big_.

Lapis flew off, heading back inland, the colossal sphere traveling after her so fast it was deforming into a sideways teardrop shape.

Distracted by a sandwich, soup, and cereal, her stomach no longer cared to intervene and the events of yesterday crashed into Connie like a physical wave, the girl swooning in her seat. The gem sloop, fusing with Steven, the living island, _Amethyst_ , _**Pearl**_ , the two preparing to build a spaceship at Steven's family's barn, Pyra, Jasper being cracked, Peridot-

 _This is_ not _open to negotiation. Some risks are not taken and this is one of them. Is. That. Clear._

Connie had to steady herself against the kitchen counter. In any other circumstances, she would probably have lost her appetite. Now, though, her stomach was uncaring of such trivialities as being benched from a fight she was responsible for creating.

 _Was Jasper okay? Clearly the fight was still going on, why else would Lapis need a giant water ball. Wait, Lapis needed a giant water ball? Is there going to be a new lake in Delmarva when this is over? Is there going to be a new bay?!_

It wasn't really a question of raw power with Lapis --exceptions like the living island aside-- but how much collateral damage was acceptable.

Without conscious thought, Connie's hand raised a spoonful of cereal to her mouth, which she ate on autopilot. This was all while her mind tried and failed to find room enough for guilt over Delmarva acquiring a great lake.

 _Wow,_ a corner of her managed. _This must be how Lapis feels_ ALL _the time._

Connie blinked, the moment of sympathetic clarity muscling into her already crowded and chaotic headspace. Before her inner cacophony rose in volume once more she made a mental note to hug Lapis more.

_Lots of hugs._

* * *

It wasn't really possible for Jasper to be bored during a battle. But this one, in stretches at least, was coming close. The Scolecite was kind of like fighting an enemy Lapis Lazuli in that it couldn't directly hurt Jasper but it could toss her about freely from a distance, using the terrain as a weapon in the process. Also, it could fly.

Flying opponents could be tedious.

Jasper thought all of this while hurtling through the air at what would have been terminal velocity on Neptune. With practiced ease, the Perfect Quartz reoriented herself so that she met the rapidly approaching ground feet first. Two craters and matching furrows were created as the force of impact was transferred from her perfect hard light form into the substantially weaker soil and stone beneath. And then, with a blur of motion, Jasper was spindashing toward the opponent once more.

Not particularly exciting as these things went.

A splash of blue prompted Jasper to come out of her dash, instead sprinting across the landscape with a speed borne of superhuman strength, fathomless endurance, and millennia of experience.

Lapis was winging alongside her while a huge blob of water soared overhead, obscuring a swath of the sky and casting the ground below in a profusion of rippling light effects. In another context Jasper might have found it fascinating. Now, however, it wasn't of tactical or strategic significance and was ignored.

"Idea?" the Perfect Quartz said in a carrying voice, sprinting toward the enemy.

"Hit it with a giant blob of water. I figure it can't dodge or redirect all of it in time," shouted Lapis so she could be heard over the wind whipping past them.

"You distract it, I close and finish it. Sounds good."

"Yup, the ol' 'splash and smash.' I don't normally get to use this much water but there's really nothing out here and I'm starting to find it hard to remember why Delmarva needs so much countryside to begin with."

Lapis was joking but her voice had an edge to it. Jasper gave her a look, the warrior smashing through rather than going over obstacles in the process.

Lapis rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But if you happen to be able to finish the job this time, I'll buy you a dozen donuts. It's been, like, seven hours of fighting and I'm getting awfully tired of this tour de g-force."

"I don't eat donuts."

"Then I'll _un-_ buy you a dozen donuts. Whatever. Just poof the frickin' thing."

Lapis split off, soaring up and away into formation beside her mass of water, both of them speeding up.

Jasper spindashed to keep pace while mentally chiding her fellow rebel: staying close to the projectile invited both gem and water to be hit with the same counter-attack. Lapis _was_ getting sloppy. If this didn't work, Jasper would probably order her back to base and then continue harassing the enemy.

Like Lapis, the enemy would get sloppy eventually. It just took one good opening and Jasper could end this fight.

Jasper had just shot past the ruined sensor tower when a jet of water probably twenty feet square slammed into her with the force of an avalanche. What followed was something of a blur but eventually Jasper was being hurled up and toward the distant horizon. Unlike the previous dozen dozen repetitions, this time she was surrounded by a mass of muddy water and debris from the blasted landscape.

Later she'd learn that the enemy had used a plane of intense gravity to funnel and divert the incoming water into a horizontal waterfall moving faster than the speed of sound... directly at Jasper. For now, all she had to go on was a glimpse of Lapis hurled in another direction and the enemy fall-flying toward the next sensor tower.

Jasper felt her form recovering from the impact as she reoriented herself for the eventual landing. This didn’t change anything. Jasper didn't give up. She kept going until she got what she wanted.

A memory, unwelcome and unbidden flashed across her mind. The floor of Doug's home; that terrible realization of loss.

Jasper frowned and decided to regroup with Lapis instead. She braced for her eventual landing.

* * *

Connie’s gem flashed and the temple door opened. The lava flows in Peridot’s room were the smell of the air just before a rain. Connie found it slightly foreboding.

Peridot was hunched over her workbench, muttering steadily. The technician frequently made audio logs while she worked so Connie tried to will herself to accept the more flattering explanation.

“...decent piece of tech off this rock in over four hundred years. You wouldn’t drop Lapis off on an arid planet with a liter of water and expect her to fight an army of monstrosities, so why should I…”

Nope, this was definitely the crazed kind of muttering.

“Ma’am?”

Connie wasn’t sure exactly what her goal was for this visit. More than anything, she was discontent, simultaneously restless and listless in the face of her Pyra blunder, a mistake literally coming back to torment her. The best she could figure was that, well, Peridot was stuck here too. She was probably feeling upset and frustrated (and weak) and maybe she could help Connie process those feelings.

Plus, despite Wolf’s many charms, he was a lackluster conversationalist.

“...giant robot then I could- Connie?” The gem turned and looked at her, blinking owlishly. Her eyes appeared huge behind her glasses, the lenses still toggled to magnification mode.

The lighting was dim so Connie had to stare for a moment at the tiny arm that was-

“Gah!” Peridot jumped like she’d been bit, the gem turning away from Connie. One, two, a dozen holograms sprung up between them, obscuring her view of her guardian.

“No, I-I’m sorry, dear, but I much too busy right now. See yourself out. Swiftly, please,” she stammered from behind the veil of holograms.

Connie stood there dumbfounded for a moment before turning and slinking out the way she came.

As soon as the temple door closed behind her, she willed it open once more, walked into a bright yellow room, and screamed into one of her mom’s pillows.

* * *

“I could bury you right next to the sensor tower and you pop up and get it when it gets near,” offered Lapis, doing the flying-equivalent of pacing while she thought.

“It topples the towers at range. We have no way of knowing where it would be standing when it did it,” answered Jasper, the Quartz standing at a parade rest nearby.

“I can make the whole area swampy. It sinks in the mud, you do your punchy-punchy thing, and we head home so fast we outrun its bubble.”

“It compressed the mud into mudstone when we tried something like that at the previous tower.”

Lapis faced Jasper, hovering in place with her hands on her hips. “Alright, genius, what do _you_ suggest?”

Jasper opened her mouth and then Lapis interjected with, “And don’t suggest harassing it until it makes a mistake. The thing has a hundred foot restraining order against us enforced by being thrown into the sky. It’s been half a day and harassment isn’t working.”

Jasper closed her mouth and scowled.

Lapis fluttered down and sat on a rock. “If Peridot weren’t so gunshy, we could have her zapping the thing six ways to Sunday and be done with it.”

“She tried that. It deflected her plasma shots harmlessly into the ground.”

Lapis frowned. “When was this?”

“Before you arrived with Connie and Steven,” Jasper clarified. “Her lightning could work but the range is too short. If she got that close-”

Lapis nodded. “Yeah, no, I get it. Honestly, one of the reasons I’m still here is because I’m afraid of what I’m gonna see when I go home. Dot and her tech, it’s…” The gem trailed off, merely shaking her head at whatever she was imagining.

“It’s going to happen eventually,” said Jasper in a calm voice. It was obvious, a fact Jasper had recognized and accepted shortly after Peridot joined the group. Four centuries and change hadn’t change that.

Lapis was looking at her. “But aren’t you sad? For her? For us? It’s not like Peri’s been slacking off since she started wearing a star.”

Jasper shook her head, her mane shifting with the motion. “I respect Peridot. I’m friends with Peridot. I’m proud of her in many ways. Peridot was right to recognize her limits and avoid this fight; she was wrecked after a single skirmish while we’ve been fighting all day.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

“There’s no shame in knowing your limits. I can’t swim in lava, so I don’t. Peridot’s an Era-2. There’s a lot she can’t do that you and I can. That’s why we’re here now. The Crystal Gems took the big and the small. Fast and slow. Strong and weak. Peridot is a Crystal Gem. Citrine saw that, let her join. Connie finished it, made her official. Whatever she can do, she’ll do it. We both know that.” Jasper was just stating fact. She never could understand it when describing reality offended others, as though not saying it made the world be otherwise.

Lapis looked like she was turning Jasper’s statement around in her head. Jasper waited. People needed time even when it was obvious. “Whatever the case,” Lapis said eventually, “I think Peri’s going to be in a bad way ‘til she adjusts.”

Jasper gave a minute nod. That, too, was obvious.

Lapis rocked back and stared at the sky. A minute later she exhaled loudly and said, “Man, I wish Citrine was here. We’d’ve been done with this fight in, like, ten minutes. Crackle, bang, finished! Or she’d do that thing and it’d freak out. Or she’d- she’d- I don’t know what she’d do but she’d think of something.” She blew out another long breath. “She always did.”

Jasper was unsure of how she felt. No, she felt proud, bitter, and empty all at the same time. What she was unsure of was how to respond when she felt that way. Maybe a few more charges at the Scolecite would clarify the matter. Then Lapis was looking at her and Jasper had to say something. “Yeah, she did.” It was true, after all, and Jasper feeling conflicted didn’t make the world otherwise.

Lapis’ gaze lingered. Jasper’s hands began to clench and unclench, a part of her already plotting out the fastest way to the enemy that really needed punching right now.

“Sorry.”

Jasper looked up, momentarily confused. Oh, right, Lapis.

The blue gem continued. “You said some heavy stuff over the Fourth of July. I- I didn’t realize you’d- I forget sometimes that tough doesn’t mean dumb. I really thought you hadn’t-” She faltered mid-sentence once more. “I’m sorry. For thinking that way of you. And for how things turned out with you and Citrine.” She slumped forward, chin resting on her palms. “You probably don’t need me poking the sore spot like that.”

Jasper let the silence between them stretch out while she tried to figure out her approach. It was like patrolling through a fog: she knew the destination but couldn’t look out for ambushes. She shrugged inwardly and decided to just charge forward. “It’s the truth. I was never worthy of her and now she’s gone. It hurts, but it can’t be changed. Not anymore.”

“Speaking as the queen of squandered potential, I think maybe you’re putting too much weight into this ‘worthy’ thing of yours. I’d never date Doug in a million years even if he was a gem, and a chick, and could crush Diamonds with his pinky fingers. Some people don’t click like that,” and she mimed trying to fit a flat shape into a square hole. “I mean, are you really so short on things to blame yourself for that you’ve got to invent extra ones?”

Jasper shook her head. “Diamonds don’t have dalliances with lesser gems. Neither did she. She made it clear what we were and what we weren’t. I can’t blame her for my foolishness.” Meanwhile, part of her really wanted to _do_ something right now, preferably involving her crash helmet.

“Well, as one of these lesser gems, let me say that you’re not all bad,” said Lapis, pushing herself to her feet and wearing a half-smile. “I mean, sure, your fashion sense is lacking-”

Jasper gave her a _look,_ willing herself not give her the satisfaction.

“-and you have all the social graces of an avalanche-”

She folded her arms across her broad chest, determined to wait this out.

“-and when you think about it, orange _is_ a pretty dumb color-”

Against her wishes, that punctured her air of indifference, a fact which made Lapis’ half-smile blossom into a full grown smirk.

“-but you make a mean grilled cheese sandwich, and that counts for something.”

Jasper chuckled. She couldn’t help herself.

“Now come on, slowpoke. There’s a corrupted gem that needs poofing. Can’t have you talking my ear off all day.” With that she launched herself skyward and began winging toward the next in the line of remaining sensor stations.

Still wearing a slight smile, Jasper sprinted after her.

* * *

Lapis arrived in a flash of light, stopping by only long enough to let Connie know she and Jasper were alright but that they were down several sensor towers. Just as quickly as she came, she left, Connie waving at the now-empty warp pad, the sinking feeling in her gut somehow sinking even lower.

Connie paced the length of the living room, pulling out her phone and glowering at it. According to Steven, his parents had double-benched him once he’d explained things to them last night. Until this whole Pyra situation was over, he wasn’t supposed to go further from home than the mailbox. They’d been texting and talking off-and-on almost continuously, but despite Steven’s best efforts, Connie remained under a storm cloud of emotional turmoil and guilt.

It wasn’t Steven’s fault. Or Lapis’ or Jasper’s. It was hers, hers and-

“Connie dear?”

Connie spun around and saw Peridot leaning through the temple doorway, the baggy sweater covering her once more.

There was a surge of excitement inside her; part of her had clearly been longing for Peridot to reappear.

“Yes ma’am?”

“Would you come with me, please?”

Connie nodded and all but sprinted after her sweater-clad guardian. “So, I’ve been thinking, ma’am, and what if we tried something like the blasters again? We could-”

Peridot had been leading her through the room, her five remaining floating fingers opening the baby gate on the near side of a bridge over a lava flow. She paused and looked at Connie with a frown. “Blasters? How are blasters relevant to the task at hand?”

Connie looked at Peridot, perplexed. “Um, I was thinking you and I could use some blasters against Pyra, so we can fight but from a safe distance,” she said slowly as though explaining something to a confused pupil.

Peridot rocked as if pushed. “What? No! Given the speed and range possessed by the Scolecite, the concept of a ‘safe distance’ simply does not apply for beings such as you and I. You will not be engaging this corrupted gem under any circumstances. I thought I made that clear,” she said with a stern expression. “And besides, my blasters proved ineffective in the initial engagement against the Scolecite.”

Connie stared dumbly at Peridot, her insides in a riot. “Then what are we doing? W- Why did you come get me?”

“I need your assistance in repairing my damaged limb enhancer, a vital endeavor even if it lacks the overt glamour of combat.”

Connie licked her lips. _Okay, that’s- I mean that’s a little disappointing but working alongside her would be me helping overall. Plus, it could help take my mind off of waiting for Jasper and Lapis to win._ Battening down the inner turmoil, Connie managed a thin smile and nodded. “Yeah, okay. How can I help?”

Peridot flashed her a grateful look. “Excellent. First thing I need is for you to remove your power sink. There’s an observed efficiency boost when my devices are operating on your power source.”

Connie turned and jogged to the temple door, hanging the necklace on a nearby hook. By the time she got back to Peridot she could feel her hair starting to frizz and her clothes starting to static cling. “What next?”

“Please situate yourself at the desk there and alert me if you need to leave the area to attend to biological needs.” She gestured at the student’s desk situated nearby. “If I’m in the middle of a particularly delicate act of repair, I may need time to reach a halting point before you step out.”

Connie walked over feeling a bit numb and sat down at the desk. Facing Peridot she asked, “And I’ll be brainstorming with you while you work? Or taking dictation maybe?”

Peridot walked across the bridge and toward her workbench, her remaining floating fingers closing the baby gate behind her. “I’m afraid the technological complexity is beyond your or anyone else’s ability to assist directly. No, you’re doing exactly what I need of you already. Thank you.”

The gem turned and began toggling devices over to their new power source. Connie, meanwhile, felt her barrier of numbness slipping. “C-Can we talk about things while you work?”

Peridot looked up as though having forgotten she was there. “Pardon? Oh, no, my complete concentration is required for the task at hand. However if you find all of this fascinating I can prepare a lecture series for inclusion in the curriculum.”

The technician turned her back on Connie and continued getting prepped what looked more like a surgery than a repair job. Reaching for something with her enhancer-free hand she paused, muttered something, and began to pull the sweater off. She’d just gotten it off her remaining limb enhancer when she froze. Peeking over her shoulder, she said in a small voice, “Can you please orient your desk to face the doorway? I don’t want you to see- That is to say, erm, there will be _sparks_ and they could damage your retinas. It would be best if you turned away.”

With all the enthusiasm of the condemned approaching the gallows, Connie stood up and swiveled the desk around so she was facing away.

She heard the tug of fabric as the sweater was adjusted or removed. A moment later came the whir of some tool spinning up. A minute later came the muttering.

Connie pulled out her hearing aids and set them on the desk. Soon her face found her hands. There were tears but they were a few bitter, hot points that stung the corners of her eyes, not a stream of remorse.

She tried to have her breakdown quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The art for this chapter came from MjStudioArts. The chapter promo was drawn by BurdenKing.
> 
> Unfortunately, Connie and Peridot are too caught up in their own problem to really speak to the other one. At least things are going well with Lapis and Jasper.
> 
> On a more dramatic and completely awesome note, fan and skilled artist [Anawinkaro](https://anawinkaro.tumblr.com/post/173584488348/electric-connie-another-connie-swap-au-drawing-i) made this picture of a profoundly upset and vengeful Connie. You can find more of Anawinkaro's art on their Tumblr [here](https://anawinkaro.tumblr.com/) and their Deviant Art page [here](https://anawinkaro.deviantart.com/).  
> 
> 
> Also, in case you missed in earlier, the picture of Connie and Pearl's reunion has gone up in Ep21Ch2 but I'll present it below as well.  
> 
> 
> In terms of omake content...  
> *) [Caught Off Balance](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10673391/chapters/33712806) by [br42](http://archiveofourown.org/users/br42/pseuds/br42) \- Everyone knew that Rose and Citrine, leaders of the Rebellion, argued over strategy but Obsidian never expected anything to come of it. **This fic is 100% canon.**  
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> If you have a Connie Swap story burning in your soul that you want to see in our official, curated Omake collection, drop us a comment either in the Omake fic or here in the main fic and we'll get in touch.
> 
> Connie Swap has an official Discord for the fans. [Come check it out.](https://discord.gg/RQMDdhr)
> 
> As usual, we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments and your asks at the [Connie Swap Tumblr](http://connieswap.tumblr.com/). Thanks for reading!


	2. Weighty Topics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're temporarily doing something a little different with our schedule and art, so be sure to read the post-chapter section for details. Also, there's some goodies from MJ's posted there for good measure.

Wind whistled past Jasper's head. Not far was the length of cable she'd tried to use as an ad hoc whip, also falling up toward the point where the enemy's range ended. Once they got there, they'd both start falling down.

Jasper had nothing to do but wait and think.

The enemy had toppled a power line and Jasper had decided to try attacking with a little more reach this time. However, she was no Amethyst and her whip-work had been sloppy. Probably best Lapis was off taking a break while Jasper continued harassing the enemy. Still, she'd come close. Well, closer. She'd try a few more times.

She only needed that one opening, after all.

Credit to the enemy gem, despite a night and most of a day fighting, the Scolecite had never given Jasper that opening. Still, the Quartz could continue this for however long it took. She'd fought longer battles.

A flicker of (non-falling) motion caught Jasper's eye. Lapis. The blue gem flew over and said something, but the wind rushing past at terminal velocity ripped the words unheard from her lips. Jasper shrugged.

Lapis rolled her eyes and then drew in close, pulling Jasper into a bridal carry. Several wing-beats later and they were out of the enemy's gravity effect and heading for the ground in a controlled fashion.

Jasper mentally tracked the trajectory of the power cable. She wasn't done with her whip idea quite yet.

Lapis dropped Jasper from about twenty feet up, the Quartz pulling into a tight spin and landing solidly on her feet. The blue gem then landed lightly nearby and sat on a mid-sized rock. She looked like she was preparing to sun herself.

"Hey Tigger. Did I miss anything?"

Jasper walked through some brush, ducking under a branch in the lightly forested bit of countryside she'd been dropped into. Not that she needed to duck the branch, but damaging the tree would have been needlessly destructive. Unlike the gem sitting across from her, Jasper rarely caused unintentional damage.

"We're down another sensor tower. I got close twice. Going to keep at it. Connie and Peridot okay?"

"I only saw Con-con long enough to let her know we were still at it. Dot was in her room, no doubt. I didn't want to pull the pin on that grenade, so I stayed away."

Jasper inclined her head in acknowledgement.

Lapis drew herself into a cross-legged position, her expression thoughtful. "I've been thinkin' and, well, dropping water on it hasn't worked. Pyra makes it fall the wrong way too easily. So I was thinking of holding a bunch of rocks in the water blob this time. Those oughta be harder to knock off course. A 'splash, crash, and smash' this time. Whaddya think?"

Jasper nodded. "We did something similar when Homeworld started using Moissanites in their garrisons. Turn the water into ice and they couldn't stop it."

As if the mention of ice had chilled her, Lapis wrapped her arms around herself. A few moments later she said, "Yeah, like that."

Silence passed between them before Lapis, hesitant, said, "Hey, Jasper? If we're not able to stop this thing before it makes it to Beach City, do you think we should..."

"Yes," answered Jasper without a moment's hesitation.

Lapis looked up at her with an incredulous expression. "Why are you so eager? It can't be- No, scratch that, I _know_ it's unpleasant for you. Heck, if I had the option, I wouldn't live in my head; you'd need a Quartz battalion and Blue Diamond herself to force me to. And here you are, eager to dive in?"

"That's why Malachite works," Jasper said. "Your power, my control. Together you and I make the perfect weapon."

Lapis looked down and stared at her feet. "Citrine said that."

Jasper said nothing. It was obvious.

"I used to resent her, you know?" said Lapis, her eyes closing as she drew her knees up to her chest.

"Why? She was right."

"That's _why_ I resented her. She was one-hundred-percent-bull's-eye-from-a-mile-away-two-plus-two-is-four right. It only took one sunk continent for me to realize that maaaybe there was something wrong with the ol' Lazuli; I'm smart like that," she said dryly. "I just hated that the answer, the better version of me that would save the world, was something awful. Fixed or broken, alone or fused with the perfect answer to my many, many flaws, I'm _still_ a monster."

Jasper strode forward, closing the distance between them swiftly. Lapis scrambled back on her rock a little in surprise, prompting Jasper to halt. The warrior knelt, looking the blue gem in the eyes.

"You were never a monster. You were a weapon directed by Citrine, a gem of righteous victory using you to save a planet and all life on it. You should be proud of that."

Lapis gradually went from wide-eyed to skeptical. "Come on, OJ. I don't know who this Lapis is you're talking about, because I've certainly never met her. A landmine handles pressure better than I do, and hurts fewer people in the process. I'm pretty sure it's still an atrocity even if most of the people caught in it are bad guys."

Jasper made a slashing motion with one large hand, as if batting Lapis' argument aside. "That's Rose-talk. With all of Earth at stake, you win however you have to. The Diamonds weren't going to leave if we lost _nicely_. It was right. Citrine was right." Jasper paused, then added, "And you're wrong about yourself."

Wide-eyed and pinned by Jasper's stare, Lapis swallowed. "Whoa. And people call me the dramatic one." Finding a smirk to wear, she said, "Even your compliments are forceful; I feel like you're about to punch me until I start accepting myself."

Jasper gave her a hint of a smile. "Would it work if I did?"

Lapis grinned. "You know it wouldn't. Still, I gotta wonder where all of _that_ came from. You and Connie reading angry romance novels now?"

Jasper rolled her eyes... although she had come within inches of saying how only Frodo and Samwise were able to carry the ring and only she and Lapis could make Malachite. "I've always thought it. We don't normally talk about this."

"Boy, is _that_ an understatement. If we had this talk a couple of months ago I'd already be on the far side of the moon, not slowing down 'til I bounced off Neptune." She shook her head, pigtails swaying with the motion. "Isn't that weird?"

Jasper rose to her feet, stepping back a few paces so she didn't loom over Lapis. "It's Connie. Things are different now."

Lapis sobered up at that. "Yeah, they are. I don't know if it's better or not, but it sure is _harder_ with Connie. No shortcuts with girlie. Things were just easy with Citrine; she'd take care of it."

In a quiet voice Jasper said, "She always knew what to say. What to do."

"Well, she knew what to look for," Lapis said, giving Jasper an inscrutable look. "Con-con, though, she's figuring it out as she goes but she’s too stubborn to let people slack off on being decent. She gets that from you, by the way. The stubborn part, I mean."

Jasper grinned "She get the decent part from you then?"

"Oh, heck no! That's from-"

There was a distant roar. Whipping her head around, Jasper tracked the enemy falling sideways toward the next sensor tower.

"Oh right," drawled Lapis, "that actual monster we're fighting." With a flap of her wings she rose to her feet. "Come on, OJ. Tut misses her pyramid? Let's go drop one on her."

* * *

Connie walked through the temple door and into the Beach House without an ounce of enthusiasm, the girl emotionally weary if not outright numb.

Pyra was out there and it was her fault. She'd dropped the gem, lost it at the end of the mission, so everything it did was on her. Pyra had damaged sensor towers, thrown a mountain top at them in Manikota, cracked Lapis, cracked Jasper, and damaged the limb enhancer Peridot was working on right this second. And if Pyra made it to Beach City, if it hurt anyone else, damaged any property, broke the temple... that would be her fault too.

She turned and headed toward the bathroom. 

Connie, Steven, and Peridot were too feeble, too vulnerable, to try and help. It was up to Lapis and Jasper to clean up her mess. It was probably best that Peridot didn't need Connie to actually do anything except sit there and broadcast energy; she would probably have messed up the repairs if she'd been involved.

After Connie had finished up in the bathroom, washed, and was in the process of toweling her hands dry, her phone managed to reconnect with the cellular network and chime. The temple interior being inaccessible to conventional technology (and geometry), she was used to this delayed response.

The first thing she noticed was the time: it was later than she'd assumed. Days were long in July so there was still plenty of sunlight coming in through the windows, but she'd need to start thinking about dinner sometime soon.

The next thing she noticed was that not all the texts she'd missed were running assurances and commentary from Steven.

_* DoMa - 4:43pm | Hey cutlass. Give your old man a call when you get the chance._

Connie, standing in the middle of the living room, tried to walk toward the temple door. For some reason she couldn't bring herself to do it. As much an excuse to loiter as anything else, Connie punched her dad's icon on her phone and raised it to her ear. Hearing nothing, she glanced at the phone perplexed, then hung up and rolled her eyes at herself. 

Putting her hearing aids back in, she tried the call again.

"Hey. Am I coming through this time?" asked her dad.

"Yeah, sorry dad. Forgot I didn't have my hearing aids in when I called you,” she said, chagrined. “Anyway, uh, what's up?"

She must have sounded like she felt because her dad faltered. "Everything okay, cute lass?"

Connie swallowed a sigh, mentally weighing what to say and how much detail to include. "I got benched from a mission that's too dangerous. It's... got me feeling down, I suppose."

One of the frustrations of hearing aids was that so much auditory nuance was lost. She assumed her dad was sounding cautiously conciliatory, trying to come across as supportive without laying it on thick, but everything was too flat to really tell. What she did hear was, "I'm sorry to hear it. I know a little of what it feels like, and I know it sucks." There was a pause. "Well, would a good meal and a sympathetic ear help out?"

One too many times Connie had accidentally walked into dinners expecting her dad and finding Priyanka there too. She'd learned to be cautious. "Who's going to be there?" 

She'd also learned to be more indirect about it but right now she couldn't muster the tact.

Doug sighed over the phone. "Priyanka will be there-"

Connie felt an excuse not to go forming on her lips...

"-and she's serving butter chicken again."

...when instead the words, "I'll be there," tumbled out instead. She blinked, momentarily surprised by the response.

Apparently her dad had been as well because he said, "I know it's- Huh? Oh. Oh, great! We'll be setting the table in thirty minutes but you're welcome over sooner if you want."

Connie nodded despite there being no one to see it. "I need to go talk with Peridot first. I was in her room helping her with something earlier --that's why I missed your text, by the way-- and she'll want to know I'm leaving."

"Sounds good. See you soon, cute lass!"

"See you soon, dad." 

The call ended and she pocketed her phone. In a repeat of this morning, it felt like her stomach had been more involved in her decision-making process than usual. However, it was hard for her to disagree with the call: Priyanka's butter chicken was annoyingly amazing and she suspected her dad's girlfriend of using it as a way of luring Connie over. That Connie saw the trap didn't make it any less effective as bait; it was that good.

Besides, it sounded much more appetizing than the big bowl of regrets she'd have sitting in Peridot's room.

Fixing on the combination of ire and actual hunger churning in her gut, Connie willed the temple door open and walked inside.

Peridot had, eventually, hung up an actual screen, deep green and opaque, to keep Connie safe from… sparks. There was the occasional crackle and flash of light so it wasn't entirely pointless, but it galled Connie as yet another barrier between her and the Peridot who used to recognize when Connie was hurting. 

“Ah, Connie. You’ll be pleased to know I have the chassis more than forty percent operational, and have partial articulation in three of the digits. So, if you’ve finished your ablutions, please retake your seat. I’ll toggle the equipment over here shortly to-”

“Actually, ma’am,” interrupted Connie, trying to maintain her initiative, “I’m leaving. Dad invited me to dinner.”

“What?!” squawked the far side of the curtain. “If you’re in need of sustenance, I can prepare some swiftly. You won’t even have to leave your seat. In fact, please don’t.”

“Oh, are there going to be sparks?” said Connie in a voice thick with sarcasm.

Peridot made a stammering sound as she tried and failed to find an appropriate response. Eventually she stepped halfway around the screen, her enhancer-less arm obscured. She was scowling. "Connie, I need you to remain present. Your physiological needs can be met here and you can join your father for dinner on some future date when more urgent matters aren't superseding it. If you wish, I can communicate the matter to Doug myself."

Connie ground her teeth. _How could she, Peridot of all people, be so selfish?!_ "I'm not doing anything important! Your tools work when I'm not around, they just work _better_ when I'm sitting here. Well, it's not like either of us are going on a _mission_ , so you can just cope while I get out of this suffocating temple!"

Peridot staggered back a step. "Connie! This insubordinate attitude is most unlike you. I demand that you cease this churlishness immediately and assist me on this vital endeavor!" she ordered, pointing at the student desk for emphasis. A beat later she added, "And the air quality in this chamber is within point-oh-oh-two percent optimal for human respiration."

Connie gripped her hair in frustration, the power sink she'd put back on earlier shifting color rapidly. "Ugh! Why are you being like this?! Don't you see, Jasper and Lapis are out there right now fighting to clean up my mess and neither of us can do anything to fix it! We're stuck _here_ with me miserable and you working behind a curtain like the Wizard of Oz."

Peridot's pose was combative, arms akimbo, her visible arm ending in a fist-equivalent. "You have no idea of the significance of what I am laboring to restore, in either the literal or rhetorical sense of the phrase. I am making optimal use of available resources to further the cause of the Crystal Gems and your comparison of me to a fictional confidence artist strikes me as childish."

"I'm not a resource!" shouted the teen.

"Well, not with that attitude." Peridot started to cross her arms over her chest but when the tech-free arm slipped into view she hastily hid it from sight once more. Some of the menace went out of the gem but after a few more attempts she managed to find a pose that looked suitably vexed.

Connie stared at Peridot in disbelief for a beat before throwing her hands up in exasperation, pivoting, and marching for the open temple door. "That's it! I'm leaving!"

From behind her she heard stammered denials and then, "But what if the Scolecite attacks while you're gone?!"

"Just call me! Lapis can be at Dad's house in, like, six seconds. Or don't; it's not like I help anyway!"

Just as she was crossing the threshold into the Beach House she heard, almost plaintive, "I don't understand this behavior of yours."

Pausing, Connie clenched her fists at her side. _I don't understand yours either,_ she thought. What she said, though, was, "Pretend I'm one of your limb enhancers."

With that she willed the door shut behind her and stormed off.

* * *

Peridot stood there, stunned and staring at the closed temple door.

_Pretend I'm one of your limb enhancers._

She continued to stand, fixed in place like a statue. Slowly, the inexplicable gave ground to meaning.

Peridot's left limb enhancer hadn't been the only thing damaged in the fight with the Scolecite. Unfortunately, Connie's ‘injury’ hadn't been of the sort that would show up on scan.

On a surge of biting maternal concern, Peridot sprinted forward toward the door until... she felt the air on the skin of her left arm. She slowed and looked at the small, inadequate limb.

It would be indecent. It would be disrespectful. It would be...

When Peridot had first reformed on Earth, her limb enhancers had been withheld from her. Jasper, Lapis, and Citrine had seen her. Weak. Helpless. A stunted gem standing before paragons.

Given that she had later fashioned an improvised destablizer, poofed Jasper, and been a breath away from contacting Yellow Diamond herself, she couldn't fault them for their prudence. Well, she had, vociferously, during her ill-conceived act of defiance, but with the clarity of hindsight she could see that it had been eminently warranted.

She had never felt weak in front of Connie. Nor helpless. Nor stunted. She'd found a great deal of satisfaction in caring for her ward and, when Connie had elevated Peridot to a full member of the Crystal Gems, she'd found vindication as well.

The thought of parading her deficiency in clear view of Connie, though... She'd rather take another overloaded blaster shot through the midsection.

She looked once more at her bare limb, forming a small and ineffective fist. With a sigh, the fist went slack. Peridot turned and walked back to her workbench. 

The sight of her enhancer gutted and splayed out in partial ruin sent a pang through her form. Tamping down on her... unproductive emotional reaction, she toggled her eyewear for magnification and picked up one of her tools.

With a mote of resignation, she toggled the device for operation without Connie's energy source and bent to the task at hand.

She decided to leave the curtain up... just in case.

* * *

"This is dumb," grumbled Jasper. She dodged left, lashing out with her whip. The weapon got within ten feet of the enemy but was diverted up, striking open air.

"Come ooon," whined Lapis as a maelstrom of water and hyrdokinetically-supported rocks whipped around trying and largely failing to hem in the Scolecite. "We’ve been at this for hours and if I don’t do something stupid, I’m going to do something _stupid_ , capiche? Here, I'll go first, just give me a gem."

The edge of a gravity wave caught Jasper, the Quartz stomping a foot into the ground to anchor herself in place. "Fine. Obsidian," she barked.

"Wow, that's an obvious fuse." Lapis bobbed and dove as some of her projectiles fell sideways at her. "Fuse and then spend the next century whistling at her from behind. Your turn: Novaculite." 

The enemy was distracted and the effect tapered off. Jasper pulled her leg from the soil and then lunged forward, attempting to close more ground. "The sharpshooter or the warp pad tech?"

"Either. Both." Hydrokinesis and directed gravity clashed, several of the suspended rocks fracturing into gravel from the pressure. 

"Shatter. They both sided with Rose," grumbled Jasper as she tried to bring the whip to bear. A part of her was glad the debris was blocking line of sight between her and Lapis, because Jasper couldn't blame that miss on gravity effects.

"Ugh, come on, Jasper. It's called 'Shatter, Date, Fuse' not 'Serious Character Analysis.' Think shallower." Lapis popped up like a cork out of the collision of forces. "I mean, warp pad-Novaculite may have been a crap shot, but that backside of hers never missed."

Jasper lashed out with the whip, intending to draw the enemy's attention while she jinked left, then lunged forward, eating up more ground between her and the foe. "Warp pad-Novaculite had no conviction and loyalty only to herself. Her backside deserved kicking, not ogling. Shatter. The other Novaculite... She was kind. I was disappointed when she chose Rose. Date."

"Ah, ya big- Whoa!" Lapis dove low to avoid a projectile, was thrown sideways by a wave of gravity, then flapped hard and escaped the effect. "You softie. My turn. Lay it on me."

Jasper tried anchoring herself again, the enemy noticing her approach and attempting to hurl her away. When the Quartz remained in place, a piece of the damaged sensor tower fly-fell her way, forcing Jasper to 'climb' along the ground out of the way, costing her precious distance from her target. Her whip, meanwhile, went falling off into the distance. It had been a promising tactic, but hadn’t panned out. "Bismuth."

"Whoa. Can I pick all three? I'm picking all three." Lapis sent a wave of water over, sweeping aside some of the 'falling' debris that Jasper was having to avoid. "It'd be a very eventful weekend, let me tell you. So, whaddya say for Garnet?"

Jasper tore out handholds in the earth by sheer strength and clung like a tick, waiting for an opportunity to present itself. She opened her mouth when Lapis yelled down, "And you can't say 'shatter' since I'm pretty sure you would have already if it were possible."

"Fuse and date," she called back as things fell overhead, a few smaller objects bouncing harmlessly off her.

"Huh?"

"Fuse with the Sapphire. Then I could see ahead if dating her is a good idea. Date the Ruby." She had to summon her crash helmet, her thick neck and shoulders jostling with some of the hits that ricocheted off.

Lapis laughed. "That's smart. Still, the Ruby's a surprise. I guess some really do like it hot."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, movie reference. Don't worry about it." With a gesture, Lapis briefly stopped supporting all of the water in the area. Like a tug-of-war with one side suddenly letting go, what had been relative calmness turned into wet chaos.

Jasper rode it out and then clambered out of the mud, Lapis' ploy having worked and confused the enemy too much to keep Jasper pinned. "Rose Quartz," she shouted before pulling into a spindash. She rocketed toward the enemy: fifteen feet; _ten; **five**_...

At the last second it fell sideways, Jasper only catching the tip of its tail in her charge. 

Before she could come about and make another pass, a great wave of gravity hit her. The force was probably enough to deform steel but against Jasper's hard light form, it washed around and through her, conveying rather than crushing.

It did, however, send her falling up, the clouds and the distant horizon her new destination.

There was a distant roar and then Lapis was spiraling off as well, one of her wings sent one way while the rest of her flew in a confused corkscrew. 

A few seconds later she managed to resummon the lost wing and flew over to Jasper. "Devil in a pink dress? Shatter. You?"

Jasper fell toward the setting sun, the sky awash with shades of yellow, orange, and pink. "Shatter," she agreed with complete conviction.

* * *

Connie had a basket of garlic naan bread all to herself. Her glass of lassi (“Mango-flavored this time”) was kept topped off. And there was a promise of gulab jamun for dessert (“Imagine a donut hole but soaked in sweet milk and sugar syrup”).

The trap had been perfect; there would be no escape for Connie.

The teen inclined her head in a Jasper-like show of respect at the woman sitting across the table. _Well played, Kurunthottical._ The doctor raised her glass of lassi a little in a reciprocal gesture.

Her dad wiped his mouth on one of the fancy napkins that appeared whenever Priyanka cooked. Folding it and setting it back in his lap, he said, “I was approached by Mary Universe the other day with a curious request.”

Connie took a sip of her drink, the tangy-sweet mango beverage going _so well_ as a chaser for a bite of naan bread. Setting the drink aside, she said, “Oh? What about?” Connie tried to think back on anything related Steven might have said but came up with nothing.

“It seems her friend, Vidalia, has been getting the runaround trying to contact her son, Sour Cream. The suspicion is that the boy is living with his biological father, who might be screening his calls and intercepting his mail.” He brushed a few crumbs from a sleeve then turned to Priyanka and said, “There’s apparently a fair bit of bad blood between Vidalia and- um-”

“Marty,” Connie supplied. “He used to be Steven’s parent’s agent or something.”

Priyanka sat primly listening to the conversation. Connie had noticed that this tiny smile would creep up on her face when everyone was eating or talking calmly or just being kinda boring and family-y together. The doctor packed the smile away and asked, “But how does this involve you?”

Doug nodded. “Right, well, Vidalia was in need of someone to scope out the situation with Marty and her son. Sour Cream isn’t a minor so him moving in with his biological father is fine from a legal standpoint, but his mother is worried that the high-powered agent might be taking advantage of her son’s naiveté. If what this hired someone sees raises suspicion about Marty’s motives then they’re supposed to get some letters and legal documents into the boy’s hands. And they’re to do this through, and I quote, ‘any means, trick, or bribe so long as it lands short of jail or hospital time.’” He grinned and took a sip of his drink while the others stared at him.

Priyanka responded first. “Surely Mary isn’t trying to hire you to pull off this… this _caper?_ ”

Doug shook his head, still grinning. “No, the Universes know I’m not involved in the shadier side of my profession. Plus,” and he shot Connie a wink, “bad back and all that. However, I did happen to know someone in the field with the right combination of talent and recklessness.” 

His grin had grown into a full smile which spread to Connie’s face as soon as she realized who he was talking about. “Uncle Marco!” she exclaimed.

“Got it in one,” cheered her dad. “My incorrigible colleague and fellow Delmarva Tech near-graduate has, I recently learned, been approached by Vidalia on the strength of my recommendation. It’s exciting in a lit-stick-of-dynamite sort of way.”

Doctor Kurunthottical relaxed a little. “Well, so long as none of this spills onto your lap, I wish them all luck.”

Doug fiddled with his napkin while he spoke. “If I know Marco, I expect he’ll be using the upcoming concert as an excuse to drop by. He was never one to eschew mixing work with pleasure, and it turns out a certain Mr. Universe lives nearby and has been known to sign autographs.”

Priyanka raised an eyebrow. “For tax purposes?” she asked, dryly, the corner of her mouth curling up into a smirk.

“For tax purposes,” her dad replied with a deliberately nonchalant expression.

Connie knew she was missing something but was afraid the answer would be worse than the mystery. But there was something else her dad had said…

“Sour Cream’s having a concert? Here?!”

Her dad and the doctor both looked her way, surprised. “Yeah,” answered the former. “Didn’t you see the giant banner they have hung up over the water tower?”

 _Wait, there were workers hanging something up on the tower when Steven and I were leaving in the gem sloop yesterday,_ Connie recalled.

Slumping a little into her seat, she said, “I’ve been kinda grounded lately. There’s a gem monster coming this way and I’m not allowed to face it so I’ve been hanging out in the temple and Beach House mostly.”

“A monster coming this way?! // Grounded?!” said Dr. Kurunthottical and her dad over one another.

“It’s-” Connie sighed, steadying herself though not quite able to make eye contact with the adults. “There was a gem monster that I accidentally failed to capture when I was first going on missions. And it slowly found its way to the temple because of gem magic… or gemtech, the line gets kind of blurry sometimes. Now it’s almost here and Jasper and Lapis are fighting it because it’s too dangerous for me or Peridot: I’m part human and she uses tech held together with duct tape. I’m pretty sure the Universes have Steven under, like, house arrest until it’s gone too.”

Priyanka’s hands were in her lap where, Connie suspected, a fancy napkin was being strangled.

Her dad looked at her with sympathetic eyes. “So that’s the mission you said you got benched from. I know that’s a bitter pill to swallow sometimes, but it was probably the right call. There’ll be plenty more missions where that came from, I’m sure.”

Connie’s gaze fell further, her insides knotting up and her eyes starting to sting. _No! Why does nobody get it?! It’s my fault and it’s not just okay that I do nothing._

“You said the monster escaped because you lost it?”

Connie blinked, wiping the corner of one eye and looking up to see Priyanka’s neutral expression.

“Y-Yeah. The pyramid temple exploded and I couldn’t keep ahold of the gemstone and I didn’t know how to bubble yet and it bounced somewhere out into the Honeysuckle Battlefield. And over the months it’s damaged a bunch of gem structures and it cracked Lapis and cracked Jasper and who knows what it’d do if it made it here and-” Connie stopped, more out of a need to breathe than from finishing her diatribe/confession.

More eye wiping followed.

“Would a more experienced Crystal Gem have caught it?” the doctor asked.

Her dad shot Priyanka a confused, bordering on offended look but stayed quiet.

Connie nodded her head morosely. “Jasper was there. She wouldn’t have failed like I did.”

“And it eats you up, doesn’t it? Because it’s your fault. And worse, it’s out of your hands now.”

A sob escaped Connie. Her dad’s look sharpened and he was on the verge of saying something, probably in defense of his daughter, when Connie preempted him. 

“Exactly!” 

Twenty-four hours of intense frustration and several months of background worry expressed in a single word. She looked at Priyanka with grateful eyes. _Finally, FINALLY, someone got it._

Doctor Kurunthottical’s gaze never wavered, but it did soften. “I had only been a part of the Crossroads practice a little while when I had a patient come in for surgery. We’re at the dinner table so I’ll go light on the details, but the gentleman needed an operation performed on his arm to keep an ailment from worsening. As these things go it was pretty routine: statistically it had an eighty-six percent success rate back then, though the current literature shows it about to reach ninety.”

Priyanka’s shoulders shifted and straightened, as though she were shouldering a familiar weight. “Two weeks after the operation and the patient was readmitted… through the ER. Not only had the surgery been a failure but there was now a secondary infection worsening the condition and putting the patient in considerable pain. I was brought in to consult, the department, wisely though I didn’t see it that way at the time, had a more senior surgeon perform the operation, and the situation was salvaged.”

The table was silent for a moment until Connie asked in a quiet voice, “He got better?”

Priyanka didn’t flinch or shake her head, she just drew in a deep breath before speaking. “He lost the arm up to the elbow. That he’d kept that much was a testament to the other surgeon’s abilities. An oversight panel was convened, no charges of malpractice were raised against me, and the matter was dropped. Eighty-six isn’t one hundred percent, after all. Professionally, I’ve suffered little-to-no consequences because, in the eyes of the hospital, I did nothing worse than be fallible. But personally...”

“It ate at you. Because it was your fault.”

The doctor nodded at Connie’s statement. Priyanka’s steady demeanor cracked a little, her shoulders hunching slightly, her eyes saddening. “He’d been a professional musician before. He’d entered with an eighty-six percent chance of nothing worse than eight weeks of convalescence. He left maimed, his career ruined. There was no one who _could_ have been at fault except me. I still think about it from time-to-time, and suspect I always will. Sometimes you fail and sometimes others suffer for it, and sometimes you neither can nor should be the one to fix the situation. Those are all truths. But it doesn’t change facts.”

Silence reigned at the table.

Eventually Priyanka reached out and took a brief sip of her lassi while her other hand smoothed a wrinkle out of the tablecloth. Regaining her composed demeanor, the doctor said, “The lesson to take from my anecdote is that you have to accept the occasional failure as well as the consequences that come from it. And one of those consequences, at least for a responsible and conscientious person like I suspect you are, Connie, is that guilt becoming an indelible part of you." Her expression relaxed and she gave Connie a wan smile. "However, the next thing to do is let that guilt motivate you to be better and, when you can manage it, maybe be more sympathetic of others who are going through the same.”

Connie could only stare at the woman across from her in wonder. Part of her felt like running away because her wicked stepmother (who was neither wicked nor actually her stepmother) was _not_ supposed to be this understanding and insightful. But most of Connie was just. So. _Relieved_. Her emotions stung, but it was a good kind of stinging, like a wound that had just been cleaned and dressed.

Eventually she nodded at Priyanka, breaking the spell. Words were said and dinner continued from there, but Connie was only barely present... no matter how delicious the food.

Something was tickling at the back of Connie’s mind and she just couldn’t let it go.

It was when she and her dad were clearing the table, Dr. K. bringing dessert plates for the gulab jamun, that it clicked. “P-Priyanka?”

The doctor looked up from what she was doing. “Yes, Connie?”

“The musician. Did you ever… check in on him later? Through, like, Friendface or something?”

The woman gave her a knowing if slight smile and said, “I did actually. I learned that he’d written his autobiography and, thanks to a prosthetic arm, had taken up music once more, though not in any professional capacity. I purchased the man’s book --as you can imagine the loss of his arm featured in it-- and learned that he’d largely made peace with his loss. He had some choice words for the medical profession as a whole but not towards me personally, and he was otherwise grateful for the technology that’d let him move on with his life.”

“Thanks.”

Priyanka nodded and went back to setting the table for dessert.

A little later they were all seated and sampling the gulab jamun. For a moment it was all Connie could do to keep her eyebrows from flying off her face, because this was simultaneously one of the best things to touch her tongue and so sweet it made her teeth ache. But as soon as the exclamations of praise and urgent remarks about brushing one’s teeth died down, Connie was back to that final epiphany.

_...he was otherwise grateful for the technology that’d let him move on with his life._

Peridot used her limb enhancers for basically everything and one of them had been wrecked, perhaps permanently. She was reeling from Pyra same as Connie, and Connie hadn’t been able to see past her own pain and guilt to recognize that seemingly obvious fact.

Connie had been a little distracted from there on out but she did make a point to hug Priyanka when it was time to go back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Where's the art?' I hear you ask. 'Also, aren't these episodes normally wrapped up in two weeks?' That's very astute of you, hypothetical reader. The answer is, two things happened.
> 
> The first is that br42 and MjStudioArts both had their birthdays between Ep22Ch1 going up and today; good times but bad for keeping everything juggled. 
> 
> The second is that we realized midway through creating this update that we had a _really_ neat idea for how to wrap this episode up, but that we'd need more time to complete it. The art for this update was already drawn (BurdenKing did a great job on it and I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you all) but then we decided to split the update in two, and the scene for the art is in the upcoming chapter. Anyway, what all this means is that _Highs and Lows_ will be completing next Wednesday, May 30th. **However** , we are treating that as our 'off' week between episodes and so episode 23 will be going up on Wednesday, June 6th as originally planned.
> 
> We're really excited about Ep23 and we've already got a lot of content for it created.
> 
> So again, we split the update into two, the second half (with art and cool stuff) is coming next week, and the week after that (without delay) is the start of Ep23.
> 
> * * *
> 
> MJ took some prompts from Tumblr over this last week and I wanted to share with y'all some of the results.  
> [Prompt 1:](http://connieswap.tumblr.com/post/174000999233/could-you-draw-connie-and-steven-holding-hands) _Could you draw Connie and Steven holding hands? They always do it in the ConnieSwap and I would love to see it. They're so precious._  
> 
> 
> For this next one, let me first show the models MJ did for fun of what a non-corrupted Moissanite (i.e. Living Island) and Scolecite (i.e. Pyra) would look like:  
> 
> 
> [Prompt 2:](http://connieswap.tumblr.com/post/174025408873/what-if-lapis-accidentally-fused-with-the) _What if, Lapis accidentally fused with the moissanite(s)—is that even possible?_  
> 
> 
> Omake-wise, we have an exciting new addition...  
> *) [Connie Swap: My Hero Marathon Omake](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14718932) by [Mandalore5](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mandalore5/pseuds/Mandalore5) \- Connie, Peridot, and Jasper sit down to watch an anime Lapis is enthusiastic about: _My Hero Academia._ Jasper finds it surprisingly compelling.
> 
> * * *
> 
> If you have a Connie Swap story burning in your soul that you want to see in our official, curated Omake collection, drop us a comment either in the Omake fic or here in the main fic and we'll get in touch.
> 
> Connie Swap has an official Discord for the fans. [Come check it out.](https://discord.gg/RQMDdhr)
> 
> As usual, we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments and your asks at the [Connie Swap Tumblr](http://connieswap.tumblr.com/). Thanks for reading!


	3. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three chapters?! Yeah, this one grew in the writing and so it's been broken up for the sake of length.

An alert popped up in Peridot’s peripheral vision. Reflexively, she tried to dismiss it. She was in the middle of something, after all. 

The alert immediately sprung back into being with a finger-wagging Yellow Pearl icon next to it. Ah, she’d set a snooze limit on this particular alarm. If she dared dismiss it again then a software daemon would impose a twelve-hour lock on any schematics or entertainment she’d accessed recently, all while an icon of Yellow Diamond herself gazed on with stern disapproval.

Yielding to the inevitable, she actually looked at the alert, the current time followed by the alert’s message moving to the center of her HUD.

_07:15:02.67am - Prepare breakfast and attempt consolation, you clod._

Peridot dispatched her remaining floating fingers to tidy up the work station while she looked down at the fruits of her labor. The limb enhancer was a patchwork of colors and textures instead of a uniform green; aesthetic considerations were a luxury for another day. Where five finely-articulated semi-autonomous manipulation effectors, or ‘floating fingers,’ would have hovered, three tendrils of flexible material held three mostly-functional, no-longer-floating digits.

This configuration would never be able to fly, would never be able to fire a plasma projectile. Its scanning abilities were rudimentary. She’d be reliant on her undamaged limb enhancer for the aforementioned functionality and more. This one could manipulate objects in reach with adequate dexterity and the tendrils could chain together into one long effector if more reach was required.

Lacking any use in this refurbished chassis, Peridot had replaced the plasma generator with a destabilizer. A part of her recognized the futility of such an inclusion --the destabilizer was a touch-range weapon and Peridot, for good reason, avoided melee at all costs-- but she just couldn’t conscience being more disarmed than she already was.

_Disarmed. An apropos, if unfortunate, word choice._

It made her form ache to be reduced to this in front of Connie but there was no helping it. Her ward needed sustenance and a resumption of what household normalcy Peridot could provide. And Peridot… needed to let her little girl know she was sorry.

Remaining here would accomplish neither.

With a heavy sigh, Peridot slid her hand into the ersatz limb enhancer, pulled the curtain back, and walked toward the temple door.

* * *

Connie’s nose and stomach conspired to wake the girl in advance of her alarm. It was just as well: her dreams hadn’t been particularly nice. Rising to a seated position, eyes still blurry and half-closed from sleep, Connie smelled rather than saw that Peridot was up.

By the time she’d groggily installed her hearing aids, the significance of that finally clicked into place: fragments of her shouting departure from Peridot’s room yesterday filtered into memory, making Connie’s stomach twist into a knot. Oh right.

Blinking and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Connie got out of bed and saw…

Two tendril-supported fingers were holding a cast iron skillet. A third gripped a spatula and transferred a pancake to an adjacent plate before gripping the edge of a bowl and pouring out another pancake’s-worth of batter. Five floating fingers flitted about the kitchen at their appointed tasks but it was the three… not-floating fingers that drew the eye.

The attached limb enhancer looked like one of Uncle Marco’s old cars: beaten up, with replacement parts that weren’t the same color/material as the originals.

As Connie descended the steps from the loft, the knot in her stomach tightened.

Wolf, meanwhile, twitched in his sleep, the hound lying on his side, splayed out across the couch.

“M-Morning, ma’am,” Connie managed as she stepped around the divider and stopped at the threshold to the kitchen proper.

Peridot looked over her shoulder at Connie. “Ah, good morning my dear.” While Peridot had her attention elsewhere, the tendril fingers finished flipping a pancake, set the skillet down, then, in a display that caused Connie’s eyebrows to jump up, linked together to reach across the stove and turn the range to low.

Peridot followed Connie’s surprised look back to her rebuilt limb enhancer. She started to move it so the bulk of her body blocked it from sight, but then she paused, gave a minute nod of her head, and pivoted to face Connie full on. The floating fingers, meanwhile, rushed back and resumed their default ‘fingery’ positions. With both her limb enhancers visible at once, the contrast between them was all the more stark.

“I was unable to restore reliable independent flight so I used these guidance tethers to-” Connie’s green guardian stopped, then tried again. “The chassis is in an incomplete state of repair in that I have yet to give it a uniform coloration and-” Her gaze had fallen to her ersatz limb enhancer but she stopped, then looked up at Connie, her eyes sad. “Dear, I recognize now that you were distraught over recent events and I may have come across as callous during our previous interaction. And I wish to convey my sincere contrition for my earlier, cavalier attitude.”

Connie felt the urge to rush in and hug Peridot, to speak through actions rather than words. And for Jasper or Lapis, she probably would have. But she felt that Peridot _ought_ to hear her say it, that it’d mean more to the gem that way.

Followed by a hug, of course.

Connie nodded, right arm held straight at her side, her elbow clutched by her left hand. “Thank you, ma’am. I appreciate that and I need to apologize too. I figured out that I had been unable or, well, unwilling to see past my own situation so I completely missed how important your limb enhancers are to you. It seems obvious that it would be a really big deal that one of them was broken. You came to me for help dealing with a personal crisis and I threw it back in your face and… I’m sorry, ma’am.” Her gaze fell to Peridot’s gravity connectors and she started to say, “I’m really-”...

...but then Peridot rushed in and hugged Connie tightly.

Connie and her caregiver held one another wordlessly for one long, stretched out moment of mutual sympathy, contrition, and forgiveness... when the screen door slammed violently.

_WHAM!_

“Gah! // Eek!” cried Peridot and Connie, respectively, the two jolting apart from one another. Wolf wriggled upright, ears alert but his expression was confused.

Lapis looked worried, exhausted, her hair was in disarray (one of her pigtails having come undone entirely), and she had dirt caked into her clothes. “Hey, sorry to interrupt the tender moment but the second she gets past Jasper, Pyra’ll be on the edge of town.”

A blur of movement drew everyone’s attention: Jasper was fly-falling sideways, skipping across the water of the bay while caught in a ripple of directed gravity.

“Oh, I guess she’s here then,” deadpanned Lapis. Turning and cupping her hands over her mouth, she shouted, “I’m coming, J!” Her wings appeared and she dove off the balcony, taking flight and heading after the receding, orange skipping stone.

“Pyra’s here?!” cried Connie already looking over the Beach House hurriedly. “One sec, I gotta grab my things. And put on real clothes. Ma’am, find my shoes for me while I-”

“Connie. While I’m relieved at our reconciliation, interrupted or otherwise, that doesn’t change the simple fact that the Scolecite is too dangerous for you to face.” Peridot stood at the threshold of the kitchen, her eyes sad but her expression resolved. “I will go assist Lapis and Jasper to the fullest extent that I am capable. I run the very real risk of further damage to my peripherals, but very little to my actual form which can not at all be said for you.”

Connie’s mouth hung open, the girl paused mid-dash across the living room.

Peridot’s expression grew pleading. “Please remain here where it’s safe. In fact, you should take such supplies as you can and retreat into one of the rooms in the temple. It is exceedingly unlikely that anything occurring externally could cross the spatial disconnect to the interior. Lapis, Jasper, or I will retrieve you when it is safe to emerge.”

Her guardian fixed her with one more concerned look before turning and jogging out the still-open front door. She raised her right arm overhead and gained altitude as her five intact floating fingers sped up.

Peridot banked in the direction of the west side of town. Lapis, and the Jasper she’d retrieved, followed soon after.

Connie stood there a moment longer, warring impulses struggling for dominance.

Wolf stepped down from the couch and padded over, because no one was so internally conflicted that they couldn’t give ear scratches.

The girl, scratching Wolf’s noggin, looked back at the temple door, the place she was supposed to go cower in while the others fought. She turned and looked out the front door, standing wide open. Another glance back at the temple and the girl said, “Nuts to that,” and proceeded to get ready for the fight, making a point of removing the power sink from around her neck.

Wolf barked in agreement, tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Just after Connie had changed out of her pajamas, her stomach reminded her that, whatever she was doing, she hadn’t actually eaten today.

She jogged over to the kitchen and hurriedly piled food onto a plate, taking her first bites before she’d even reached the bar stool.

When two pancakes and some eggs made their way into Wolf’s food dish, the hound fortified himself for the coming fight as well. Enthusiastically. Even going so far as to lick the bowl’s interior twice over in case any fortifying crumbs had been missed.

* * *

Connie’s breathing was starting to become heavy as she pedaled her bike across town. There were occasional sparks kicked up from the motion and her clothes were static clinging like mad. Wolf jogged alongside her at an easy lope, the large animal having no trouble keeping pace.

Finding the fight was easy: blobs of ocean water rose from the bay and flew towards one location while Jasper tended to be launched skyward from the same general area. Connie’s destination: the water tower.

Just as her dad had said, a huge banner was hung across the face of the tower. It showed an even cooler than usual Sour Cream wearing mirrored shades and headphones, bent over a turntable that radiated beams of light. It said, ‘DJ SC @ BEACH.’ It looked like there was a date below that but one corner of the banner had come undone and was flapping manically as exotic energies clashed nearby.

Just as Connie rounded Waterman Street, Peridot landed atop the water tower, reconfigured her primary limb enhancer for blaster fire, and began loosing shots down at something Connie still couldn’t see. 

_Oh, I guess she can’t fly and shoot at the same time anymore,_ the girl realized.

This was met with an upward ripple that made the water tower wobble slightly and the banner billow out like a sail catching the wind. Peridot pinwheeled her arms but stayed in place and, after a moment of oddly-jerky steps, resuming firing.

Connie blinked, confused, until she saw Jasper go falling upward, caught in the same effect. _Peridot’s got magnets in her gravity connectors and is sticking to the water tower._ She turned to Wolf and said, “That’s really-” pant “-clever.”

Wolf’s tongue lolled out of his mouth in an agreeing smile.

Meanwhile, the people of Beach City were in fine form, making an orderly evacuation of the north-west part of town. Their destination was marked by the distant warbling of the mayor’s van, which Connie knew from past experience would be the epicenter of food and drink stands, printouts of forms citizens might need in the event of compensation claims, and a seemingly limitless supply of Dewey-themed buttons and glow sticks.

A handwave caught Connie’s eye and she saw it belonged to Peedee. Jeff, who was walking beside him, cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, “Go get ‘em, Connie!” This earned an amused cheer from the crowd. Monster days were treated with a generally festive air, because who didn’t like free snacks and a few hours break from work or school? After all, all wages or lost business was compensated for after the fact, there being a vast government fund set aside for that very purpose.

Connie blushed slightly and waved back, Wolf giving an enthusiastic howl in response.

A light misting of salt water drew Connie back to the present. Looking ahead she saw curious sideways waterfalls as hydrokinesis and directed gravity clashed, a struggle with a splash zone measured in blocks, apparently.

Peridot magnet-walked to a new vantage point atop the water tower, her primary limb enhancer reconfiguring. With a brilliant flash of light, an arc of electricity fired from her Tesla coil limb. 

All the sideways waterfalls fell to the ground and for a brief moment there was quiet.

Then a ripple struck the water tower that left Peridot hanging in place by one gravity connector, both arms and one leg suspended overhead as though her peripherals were rockets trying to blast off. There was a snap and the right corner of the Sour Cream banner came free, a wave of material rolling up and over to bowl into Peridot, sending the gem hurtling into the sky.

Connie redoubled her peddling, teeth clenched as the brawl continued.

There was a ripple shooting down Waterman Street, a wave of gravity that was carrying Jasper along with it. Connie stared at it like a deer in headlights for a moment before-

**BARK**

-she fell forward into _something_ , was treated to a ride through a kaleidoscope, and suddenly she was on her side in the grass trying frantically to untangle herself from her bike.

A quick look around showed that she was in someone’s yard a little south of the water tower, a swirling vortex shrinking to nothing behind her. _Oh right, he can make those._

A moment later and another vortex appeared a few yards away, Jasper spilling out and landing in someone’s flower bed. She looked as surprised as Connie felt. A third vortex and Wolf emerged. The canine jogged over and thirstily drained a bird bath.

“Connie? Peridot said you were sheltering in the temple,” said the warrior, rising to her feet and further trampling the begonias.

In what was a very Steven-like moment, the words just kind of spilled out of Connie. “I had to help. Not because all this is my fault, because I had this whole talk with Priyanka the other day and I know better now, but because I wouldn’t be me or a me worth being if I cowered while you guys fought to save the town.” She was left a little breathless at the end, the rise and fall of her chest causing the material of her outfit to crackle from the static.

“Okay.”

Sometimes Jasper knew just what to say.

The Quartz helped Connie to her feet, bothered by neither Connie coming out to fight or the jolt of electricity when she took the girl’s hand. “Here’s the plan: you stay back, have Wolf get you out of incoming fire, and use your fields to fence it in while I try to-”

The warrior was cut off when a tendril of water as big as a redwood tree rose up, reared back, and then whipped forward. Scarcely a block away a crack like the world’s largest bullwhip rang out, like being at ground zero for a clap of thunder. Connie winced as her hearing aids abused her eardrums attempting to reproduce the sound.

More ripples and the colossal water weapon began to fling apart. There was a roar of frustration as Lapis hovered up above the treeline.

Her eyes were flat mirrors and her mouth was pulled into a snarl.

“New plan,” barked the Quartz. “You and Wolf distract the enemy while I get Lapis under control.”

The water tower rocked and groaned as the contents inside strained against the container. Meanwhile, a shadow fell over the area as a massive blob of water rose overhead between them and the sun, the whole thing casting chaotic patterns of light across the ground.

Leaving her bike where it was, Connie and Wolf ran across the lawn and down the road while Jasper leapt two dozen feet into the air, bounding over obstacles and making a beeline for Lapis.

“No more misses nice gem,” growled Lapis. A ripple forced her sideways, but her wings beat steadily, holding her more-or-less in place and glaring at her opponent. “You’ve pushed me around one too many times so now I’m pushing _back!_ ”

Connie and Wolf made it just far enough to see a bit of white-grey tail when a column of water the size of a building dropped. Connie summoned a pair of vertical force fields that came together at a point, she and Wolf sheltering in the ‘V’. There was a huge splash, ripple effects fanned out and water fell everywhere, including down, sideways, and up.

Connie and Wolf were sprayed but the worst of the torrent rushed past either side of her barrier. Though the landscape was swept up in the mother of all downpours, Lapis managed to pull the curtains of water skyward before they impacted with the buildings scattered around the area. No buildings had been flattened, but the fence builders and landscapers of the area would be making brisk, government-funded trade here in the weeks to come.

As soon as the waters subsided, Connie looked around. Lapis was nowhere to be seen and Pyra had been pushed probably thirty feet back, her comparatively tiny, human-like hands waving like a conductor while her larger leonine limbs helped heave her body this way and that in search of threats.

Connie opened her mouth to shout some sort of challenge to Pyra when better sense caught up with her. _Hit the enemy first,_ then _shout taunts._ In her peripheral vision she saw Wolf’s fur standing on end as Connie gathered her charge... and she could only imagine what her own hair was doing.

Jabbing her right hand out to point in the corrupted gem’s direction, an arc of electricity struck the puddle of salt water pooling around its tail. The monster sizzled briefly, curls of steam beginning to rise.

A face within a face turned and fixed Connie with eyes that were equal parts confused and incensed. Connie’s rejoinder, whatever it had been, died in her throat and all that came out was a faint, ‘eep.’ Fortunately, Wolf had a better remark prepared, the hound sending a barked shockwave out that caused the corrupted gem to tumble twice over before an extreme ripple rooted it in place.

The ripple reoriented and was launched her way. Connie had just enough time to send one more minor arc of electricity out before another kaleidoscope vortex swallowed her up, depositing her and Wolf in a confused heap… somewhere.

Disentangling herself from Wolf, Connie rose to her feet and looked around. The omnipresent water tower, with its now-dangling banner, was a landmark that was impossible to miss so she found her bearings quickly: she was on the roof of a square building not far from where she’d zapped Pyra.

Pyra was looking around once more, her large paws and serpent tail helping her pivot quickly to try and find her lost opponents. Connie summoned a force field in Pyra’s field of vision, placing it as far away from herself as she could. The corrupted gem immediately struck it with gravitic force sufficient to crack the pavement beneath but the hard light construct handily weathered the effect.

Connie had summoned a second field --her original ‘V’ having winked out of existence when she hadn’t been paying attention-- to keep Pyra distracted when she heard… singing? Wolf’s ears twitched in the direction of the far-side of the building. Running as quietly as she could, Connie crossed the roof and looked over the side to see…

It wasn’t singing, she realized, but rather two voices humming a syncopated and up-tempo tune. Later Connie would place it as a tango, an _angry_ tango, but in the moment it looked like Lapis and Jasper struggling in time to a beat, both vying to lead the other, with just enough synchronicity that it counted as dancing instead of a wrestling match. There was a shared look of ferocity: from Jasper, eagerness, the gem grinning widely in challenge; from Lapis, rage, a look that said she wanted to flatten everything that annoyed her starting with Jasper herself. Then Lapis lunged forward snarling, as if she were going for Jasper’s throat. Jasper swayed with the motion, pulling Lapis in even tighter, the pair locked eyes, their gemstones flared with light, and then…

An indistinct figure rose up, higher and higher, bigger and bigger. Taller than Hiddenite. Taller than Tiger’s Eye. Up and up until Connie fell backwards trying to follow it, the girl watching the behemoth form with her mouth open in shock.

Eventually the figure stopped growing and a shock of white hair fanned out, blocking what little sun filtered through the mass of water overhead. Two arms, each thicker and longer than the steel legs supporting the water tower, extended out from the form. A trunk-like leg formed in the alley where the two gems had tangoed, and three more grew out of the enormous monstrosity taking shape.

Then the fingers grew in and Connie realized it wasn’t a leg at all, but a hand. Four of them supporting the unimaginably large fusion. Finally, the being went from an indistinct white to shades of bluish green with bands of deeper green stripes, circular splotches of discoloration visible along some of the extremities. Clothing sprang into existence: a loose shirt sporting an enormous star, dark green sleeves extended from gaps that exposed the underarms and back, and a black bodysuit covered the torso, centauride body, and one leg-hand.

There was a booming cackle, the laugh of a titan freed from its imprisonment, and a watermelon-colored, kaiju-sized, four-eyed centaur of doom dominated the skyline.

In a tiny voice, Connie said, “Is… Is that… Malachite?”

“Where are you, puny gem? Let us show you what a _real_ monster can do!” bellowed the fusion in an eerie, two-toned voice. The water overhead split into a pair of tendrils, each as thick as booster rockets and ending in jagged points of ice that were effectively miniature icebergs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have a Connie Swap story burning in your soul that you want to see in our official, curated Omake collection, drop us a comment either in the Omake fic or here in the main fic and we'll get in touch.
> 
> Connie Swap has an official Discord for the fans. [Come check it out.](https://discord.gg/RQMDdhr)
> 
> As usual, we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments and your asks at the [Connie Swap Tumblr](http://connieswap.tumblr.com/). Thanks for reading!


	4. Malcontent

There was a helicoptering sound followed by the clang of metal on roofing, but Connie couldn’t tear her eyes away from the colossal force in front of her. “Connie?! I- Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now. I doubt the Scolecite will be a threat for much longer.” Peridot proceeded to scan Connie and then Wolf, but was wholly ignored by both.

A ripple engulfed one of Malachite’s ‘feet’, which slid for about a yard before the fingers thereof gripped the ground tightly and arrested the movement. A ripple, bigger than any Connie had seen before engulfed the front half of Malachite and the fusion reared up for a moment, but enormous wings of water appeared and lowered her to the ground with two flaps, flaps that blew Connie’s hair back from across the street.

“Is that all you’ve got, you runt?! Now it’s our turn,” taunted the behemoth.

One of the ice-tipped tendrils shot forward. A ripple, narrow in area but intense in effect, slowed the progress, flakes of ice falling away as the watery tendril started to deform. Then the fusion took a single step forward and with it, the water and ice advanced down, straight through the crushing gravity by sheer hyrdokinetic might.

_If Lapis had been able to do that, Pyra wouldn’t have lasted a minute._

Another colossal step and then the tendril shot ahead, skewering the ground hard enough to leave an impact crater as deep as Connie was tall. It was only by a last-second bit of backwards falling that Pyra avoided being impaled.

“Struggle all you want. That just makes it more _fun!_ ” And with that, the building-sized tendrils lashed out. Pyra fell up, sideways, allowed herself to fall back down, and then shot up and over in a crazy evasion pattern, all while ripples that would strip the bark off a tree tried (and failed) to budge Malachite. 

The two water limbs split into four, then the four into eight, each tipped with a lethal-looking spearpoint of ice. All eight plus Malachite’s own enormous arms surged after the previously unmatched gem monster. While Pyra’s dodging became even more frenetic, a bit of churned up debris fell up from the ground, nearly striking Malachite in the eyes. However a tendril fanned out and became a solid pane of ice that intercepted the attack.

“Nice try, but you’re.” A bit of ice clipped Pyra’s tail, sending the corruption tumbling. “Going.” Then another tendril turned into solid ice and struck the chimeric monster like a bat hitting a home run. “DOWN!” Before she could evade, Malachite’s enormous hands came down in a slam that spiked Pyra like a volleyball, sending the gem beast straight toward the ground below.

An intense bout of ripples slowed the fall but the instant she got within a yard of the water-logged soil, the water reared up and engulfed the monster, then froze into an icy prison.

The tip of Pyra’s tail and one of her larger hands flailed but another layer of water oozed over and froze, only the gem monster’s face remaining visible.

One colossal hand-foot raised up and then bore down on the trapped rival. “Malachite wins. Malachite always wins, and don’t you forget it.” Oh-so-slowly the foot lowered, ice crunching underneath. 

There was a final ripple and a scattering of debris but to no avail as the limb came down with a huge and sickening crunch.

“Gah! Be careful or you’ll shatter the Scolecite!” shouted Peridot. Connie, nearby, looked stricken.

The fusion turned and leaned forward, many eyes squinting as if trying to perceive a speck. A giant, bluish-green hand waved her concerns off. “Butt out, you weakling. We know what we’re doing. Our hand is cupped so it’s only-”

The enormous fusion raised her limb up a few feet to illustrate their point, crushed ice scattering with the motion. Then there was an intense ripple that jolted the huge ‘leg’ up. Pyra slithered into view then an intense sideways ripple sent her fly-falling toward the horizon like she’d been shot from a cannon. In fact, she moved so quickly there was a crack as displaced air rushed to fill the gap.

In the shadow of the foot was a hole Pyra had dug, no doubt using a combination of unnatural limbs and upward gravity to pull material out of the way. It wasn’t large or especially deep, but it had been just big enough to keep the gem monster from being crushed.

Five sets of eyes blinked in surprise, three from the onlookers atop the building, two from the enormous fusion. The speck that was Pyra, meanwhile, vanished over the horizon.

“Wow,” breathed Connie. 

Wolf snorted in agreement.

“Now _there’s_ an example of escape velocity,” said Peridot, her ersatz fingers adjusting her glasses as she stared off into the distance.

Connie heard a rumble like an avalanche. It took her a terrified moment to realize it was a growl of frustration from the enormous being towering overhead.

“That was _your_ fault! You’re useless. Worse than useless!” bellowed the colossal being while four eyes glared down at Peridot.

Seeing the gigantic figure bearing down on them, a surprised scream escaped Connie’s lips and a force field appeared over her and Peridot’s head.

That seemed to give the titan pause… for a moment. She drew herself to her full height, looking in the direction of the vanished enemy. “Whatever. You’re not worth our time. We’re going to find that little speck and crush it for certain. And then we’re going to find that Moissanite and show it who’s the biggest, baddest water monster there is on this planet!” 

A beat later the fusion spoke in a single-toned voice, saying, “After that, we should find the Apostate and show her what a real fusion can do.”

Another single-toned voice answered, “Yes. She stood in our way at the fountain while I was cracked, that pest.”

In two-toned and horrible unison, Malachite spoke. “Nothing will escape our wrath.”

“Nooo!”

Connie looked over to see Peridot shouting up at the fusion, one of her floating fingers hovering in front of her mouth amplifying her voice.

The massive monstrosity peered down at them once more, Connie’s force field seeming insignificant in the face of something so _huge_. “They deserve it. Besides, who’s going to stop us? Citrine? Oh wait, she’s not here anymore.”

“You shouldn’t do this! You get megalomaniacal when fused, which is why Citrine only authorized it when the situation was both dire and lacking all feasible alternatives. This is not such an occasion. The Scolecite has been driven off. You need to separate.”

Peridot’s voice echoed slightly off the force field overhead, prompting Connie to turn down the volume of her hearing aids. Sometimes she could see why Steven missed that option.

Two of the eyes narrowed in a display that reminded Connie of Lapis’ expression during the tango. In a single-toned voice, the goliath said, “You don’t get to tell me about how to fuse anymore. _You_ chickened out when we were Hiddenite. _You_ flew away and left me behind. And now _you_ can sit there while I take care of the things you were never gem enough to handle.”

“I- You’re right that I fled the scene, and I’ll concede the possibility that I was over-hasty to do so. But be that as it may, I can’t allow you to rampage unchecked. Separate or- or I will do it for you,” challenged Peridot, the gem’s words bold but her body language was less confident.

The colossus straightened up and crossed her arms, a mean smile spreading across her features. “We’d like to see you try.”

“Ma’am?” said Connie in an uneven voice that was just loud enough for Peridot to hear. “Um, how exactly would mom get them to stop being, uh, _them?”_

Peridot glanced Connie’s way. “Your mother? Ordering Jasper to stand down usually worked, though she sometimes had to, erm, expedite the process with judicious use of her galvanic sword strikes,” she answered softly.

“I see,” replied the girl quietly, her insides burning with shame at being unable to summon her weapon. “And how are you going to stop Malachite?”

“Shockingly, I have no-” The gem stopped and then looked at Connie, the girl’s hair frizzing out prodigiously. “I don’t believe I would be capable of it alone, but I think, together, we may be able to bring them down.”

Connie’s eyes went wide in surprise. “R-Really?”

Peridot pulled Connie to her feet using her ersatz limb enhancer, a jolt of electricity arcing between the tendrils. “Yes. I have a destabilizer built into this limb enhancer. Currently, it’d be ineffective against a form that large, momentarily disrupting one of her hands at best. But if I divert all my available energy,” and a cable snaked from Peridot’s main limb enhancer into a port on the side of her refurbished one, “and you help me further overload the onboard storage array, then we _might_ be able to split the two of them.”

“I-” Connie took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, ma’am. I’ll do my best.”

Peridot favored the girl with a smile. “I know you will, dear. Now, follow my lead…”

  


\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Why does she have to be offensive_  
_Aside from in the tactical sense?_  
_Don’t they know that a choice this big_  
_Comes with a greater expense?_

_It's clear that she's out of control_  
_And unenlightened_  
_I'm nervous for the common good_  
_And not because I'm..._

_I can show you how to be strong..._  
_In the right way._  
_And I know that we can be strong_  
_In the right way._  
_And I want to embolden you_  
_I want to be your light_  
_And when I fight_  
_It guides the good inside you._

[Malachite] Who are you kidding, you pebble?  
Just stay out of our way so your little toys don't get broken.

_[Connie] You can show me how to be strong..._  
_In the right way._  
_And I know that we can be strong_  
_In the right way._

_[Peridot and (Connie)] And I want to embolden you (And you want to embolden me)_  
_I want to be your light (You want to be my light)_  
_And when we fight (And when we fight)_  
_It guides the good inside you. (It guides the good inside me.)_

_And I want to embolden you (And you want to embolden me)_  
_I want to be your light (You want to be my light)_  
_And when we fight (And when we fight)_  
_It guides the good inside you. (It guides the good inside me.)_

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Connie summoned an angled force field that the two of them used to slide down to street level.

"Attempt to keep me within your energy radius, as I've reconfigured my enhancers to harness your power source," explained Peridot. The gem tapped a button on her ersatz limb enhancer and a greenish rod, about as thick as Connie's thumb, extended out six inches. "And when you're capable, direct your galvanic discharges at this capacitor array. The more you can channel to my peripherals, the sooner I'll be able to attempt my gambit."

Connie looked at the small target, then considered her own less-than-perfect aim with her electricity. She swallowed nervously and replied, "Will do, ma'am."

Looking up at the towering fusion, her voice amplified once more, Peridot said, "It is my hypothesis that every fusion accentuates certain personality traits held by the component gems."

An enormous 'foot' tapped impatiently. "Are you going to try and lecture us apart?"

Connie, meanwhile, stood there, her hair growing ever stormier as she tried mentally reviewing the many frustrations of the previous days.

Peridot ignored the remark and continued. "Tiger's Eye elevates Jasper's and my obsessiveness, becoming a singularly focused being who fights with precision but devolves into tedium and fixation."

Two of the four eyes overhead rolled. "This is literally beneath us." The enormous fusion turned, massive wings springing into being, poised to carry Malachite in pursuit of her vendettas...

...when a bolt of plasma struck her greenish-blue cheek.

"Pay attention when being addressed," admonished Peridot with casual confidence, a thin trickle of smoke extending from the tip of her primary limb enhancer. "As I was saying, Hiddenite accentuates-"

The voice of an angry titan cut Peridot's words off and making the air itself vibrate. "Oh, we're going to-"

Another plasma bolt flew, striking the toe-like finger nearest the technician. "And don't interrupt me! It's impolite."

Connie's mouth hung open in a mix of awe and fear: awe at the brave face Peridot was able to muster, fear at what would happen if so much as Malachite's pinky got ahold of her.

There was a roar overhead that Connie _felt_ , the sort of noise that probably registered on the Richter scale. The sort of noise that meant the monster day gathering would probably be relocating half-a-mile or more further away.

Peridot whipped around and said in a quiet voice (though _anything_ would seem quiet by comparison), "Head for the area beneath the water tower." Then, facing the enraged kaiju, she said in an amplified voice, "Hiddenite accentuates Lapis' and my vanity. She's superlatively talented but can only perceive others as a source of validation."

Arm overhead, Peridot took flight, zig-zagging this way and that as enormous hands tried and failed to snatch her out of the air.

There was a faint yellowish glow surrounding Peridot's ersatz limb enhancer.

Testing had shown that Connie's energy aura extended out about thirty feet, forming an invisible sphere around the girl. It was also why she could arc electricity through the air without needing lethal voltages built up. It also meant that Connie had to make a pell-mell dash across the battle-scarred landscape to try and keep Peridot within her radius.

Malachite swiped at Peridot, missing but sending the gem in a tumble from sheer displaced air. With a drunken lurch, Peridot weaved right and then vanished around the far side of the water tower.

Malachite lunged forward, looking to the opposite side of the tower with hands outstretched. "Got you, you- What?" Moving independently, her four eyes scanned the area, trying and failing to spot their prey. Straightening up, the fusion looked at the top of the water tower, then peered around the other sides.

Connie stood in the shade of the tower, a little breathless from her sprint and just as confused. Then she heard 'clonk clonk clonk' overhead: looking up she saw Peridot walking upside down along the underside of the structure, her magnetic gravity connectors holding her in place twenty-five or so feet above the ground.

Peridot extended her glowing limb enhancer down and Connie took the hint. Pointing her right index finger up, she loosed her pent-up electricity, the arc (thankfully) striking the intended target.

"Where are you, little pest?~" said a huge voice in a discordant singsong. "Try and lecture us some more and see what it gets you."

Panting, Connie released the last of her stored electricity, her hair falling down in a curtain that obscured her vision. Through a gap she could see Peridot's rebuilt limb enhancer glowing a bright yellow, curls of smoke coming off the thing.

"Very well. I believe there was one final fusion I neglected to speak on," said Peridot in a lecturing tone that Connie was very familiar with but Malachite probably was not.

The fusion herself crouched down. "Ah, that's where you were hiding."

Peridot glanced at a hologrammatic chart then shot Connie a worried look. She made a beckoning gesture with the limb enhancer that didn't look like it was about to explode, the sign for ‘keep it coming.’ Turning back to the watermelon-colored colossus, she said, "Yes. Malachite, I believe, accentuates Jasper and Lapis' insecurity."

"Insecurity? We're the biggest, strongest, most dangerous thing on this entire planet. The armies of Homeworld were no match for us." 

The fusion reached forward to grab the impudent little gem when a force field appeared, blocking her. Four eyes looked down at Connie and a voice like an angry deity barked, "You stay out of this!"

"I theorize that Jasper fears independence and welcomes fusion as a rather literal escape from it."

A growl escaped the behemoth and two hands reached out once more. Two more force fields appeared, earning Connie a truly terrifying snarl. With casual ease, a punch sundered one of her fields and the giant hand groped around the underside of the tower for Peridot.

Peridot, meanwhile, dodged with as much grace as her magnetic footwear allowed, which was to say, not much. "Lapis is afraid of her own power, or afraid of her unreliable control of it. Malachite grants her that control and all it costs her is a deepening of her own considerable self-loathing."

Malachite shoved forward, the water tower rocking from the impact as a single large hand enveloped the technician. "Gotcha!" Like King Kong abducting Ann Darrow, Malachite held a struggling Peridot, the green gem's lower body trapped in their enormous grip.

"And like many, gah!" Peridot had to duck to avoid being clipped by one of the water tower's steel support struts. "Like many insecure individuals, Malachite engages in bullying behavior to compensate."

The struggling gem was raised until she was face-to-face with the gigantic centaur fusion. "The weak usually call the strong bullies. That doesn't make it true. But here's a truth for you: you lost. So shut up and stay out of our way."

"Fusion usually brings out the worst in us. So I have a counter-proposal."

Even from down on the ground, Connie could see the smoke coming off the overloaded enhancer.

Before the massive monstrosity could reply, Peridot said loudly, "You two should spend some time apart."

Even held in close like that, all three of Peridot's tendril-supported fingers had to link end-to-end to reach Malachite's face. A surge of yellow energy coursed across the tendrils causing the behemoth to shout, in alarm and possibly in pain. Smoke billowed out of the enhancer and one of the tendrils actually caught fire, flames of an unnatural color burning as exotic materials burned. The yellow energy continued to pour forth, straining the tendril-fingers to their limits and beyond: the finger in contact with Malachite exploded into flaming shrapnel, Connie summoned a field to shield herself, and then...

...there was an enormous explosion of bluish-green smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have a Connie Swap story burning in your soul that you want to see in our official, curated Omake collection, drop us a comment either in the Omake fic or here in the main fic and we'll get in touch.
> 
> Connie Swap has an official Discord for the fans. [Come check it out.](https://discord.gg/RQMDdhr)
> 
> As usual, we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments and your asks at the [Connie Swap Tumblr](http://connieswap.tumblr.com/). Thanks for reading!


	5. Sliced Watermelon

Peridot fell, wailing in a shrill cry of alarm, until she passed within a few feet of the water tower. The magnets within her gravity connectors were apparently still activated because the technician was pulled into contact with the structure. A cascade of sparks rained down and steel screamed against alien metal as Peridot ground to a loud, slow halt.

A beam of green light struck out from Peridot’s intact enhancer and engulfed the limp form of Lapis Lazuli, the tractor beam arresting her fall instantly and without whiplash.

Jasper had a rougher landing, bouncing at an angle off the field Connie had conjured to help break up the fall, then dropping into a swirling vortex Wolf had barked into existence. This opened at street level, which Jasper rocketed out of, her fall turning into a long, horizontal tumble.

It was better than going splat, but it still made Connie wince sympathetically. Once the gem coasted to a stop, wearing probably fifty yards of muddy debris and road grit, Connie ran over. "Jasper! Are you okay?!"

The orange gem raised herself up by one elbow, spat a good amount of turf from her mouth, and said something that could be construed as, "I'm fine," but came across as, "'m fnn." She looked equal parts battered and miserable.

Peridot gently lowered Lapis to the ground as she 'clonk clonk clonked' down the side of the tower support leg. Tractor beam disengaged, a small aperture in her intact limb enhancer opened up and doused her scorched one in flame retardant chemicals, the gem making sure to also coat the two remaining tendril fingers. Once she stepped clear of the structure, Peridot gave it an appreciative pat with her good hand and said, "I must remember to commend those responsible for constructing such a resilient erection." 

"Phrasing," mumbled Lapis before the gem winced, her hand at her scalp. "Ugh. I don't think I'm big enough to contain a headache this large."

Wolf padded over and bumped Jasper with his head before proceeding to lick the gem's cheek in what Connie assumed was the canine-equivalent of a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

Peridot, Connie, and Wolf spent another minute fussing over their respective former fusions. 

Lapis reached once, twice, and then on the third time succeeded in grabbing Peridot's shoulder and hauling herself to her feet. "So, some stuff happened and some more stuff was said." The blue gem wobbled unsteadily on her feet. "But before I even start to unpack that new mountain of baggage, I need to go scream into a pillow for a few hours, and that pillow is the Pacific Ocean. I-" she let go of Peridot's shoulder and then instantly grabbed it again for support. "I promise I'll be back after I'm done." She turned to look at Connie and asked, "Is... Is that okay?"

Connie's eyebrows shot up but she nodded.

Lapis gave her look that was equal parts grateful and apologetic, summoned her wings, and then flew in a wavering line roughly westward.

Jasper watched Lapis depart, her expression pained. Once the blue gem vanished from sight, the large Quartz rose to her feet. She looked at Connie, then at Peridot. Her mouth opened like she was about to speak but then it closed wordlessly. She gave Wolf a single pat on the head, turned, and walked south, skirting the edge of the town.

Her broad shoulders were slumped and her hands hung limp at her sides.

"I think we should return to the Beach House, dear," said Peridot a little while later.

Connie looked around but was utterly unable to see her bike in the churned up landscape. She shrugged. _Eh, it'll wind up in the mayor's garage with all the other lost-and-found stuff after the cleanup crews have finished._

Nodding to her guardian, the pair began to walk toward Waterman Street, Wolf padding along after them. "Ma'am... Do you think Pyra will come back?"

Peridot followed Connie's gaze out toward the bay where the corrupted gem had fled. "The odds of the Scolecite staying gone indefinitely are low, but it will probably be months or years before it attempts to return. Corrupted gems are creatures of instinct and crude intelligence: having a larger, more powerful opponent drive one of them off is likely to give them a strong aversion against coming back."

That was simultaneously a relief and something of a disappointment for Connie. She filed that away as something to process later, ideally with Steven and lemonade present. 

Turning her attention to Peridot, Connie asked, "Is your, uh, limb enhancer going to be..." She trailed off because the limb was scorched, cracked, a patchwork of materials, and only had two fingers remaining. It wasn't a question of whether it'd be okay, it was really a question of whether _Peridot_ would be okay with it being, at best, semi-functional.

Her guardian patted the limb with a mix of sadness and pride. "It functioned admirably given the circumstances. I won't know until I return to my room and can run a full diagnostic, but I suspect I'll be able to retain the manual dexterity in the, erm, remaining digits. That..." she sighed. "That will have to suffice."

Connie wanted to reach out and comfort Peridot somehow, but a small voice inside her said that probably wasn’t the best idea right now. That urge seeking an outlet, Connie instead began scratching Wolf behind the ears as they walked in silence. 

It didn't take them long to reach a point in the town where you couldn't tell any titanic clash had happened, scattered puddles of salt water notwithstanding. It was strange, but it also made a knot in Connie’s chest loosen marginally. "That was really brave of you, facing down Malachite like that." A few steps later Connie added, "I know I was scared."

"An unrestrained Malachite was a disaster that, speaking in the strongest possible terms, _had to be_ averted. I merely followed the logical course of action." Two steps passed in silence before Peridot gave a weak chuckle and added, "However, I can assure you, had I the limbic system for it, I would be suffering an adrenaline crash right now. I was beyond two standard deviations of my capacity for fear."

More quiet walking and then Peridot said, "And I must commend you for your assistance. I say with no exaggeration that it would have been impossible to succeed without you."

Connie smiled. It didn’t quite reach her eyes, but it had been a very trying couple of days. Rather than dwell on all of that, she patted Wolf's flank and said, "Wolf was a huge help too. After I change into cleaner clothes, we can make a grocery run and get you some lunch meat to celebrate."

Wolf thought this was an excellent idea and made sure Connie, as well as anyone within a mile of their location, knew it.

A block or two down the road and Sadie's mom walked into view. The stocky woman was wearing her postal uniform and a knee brace, with one hand hovering near what looked like a short truncheon dangling off her hip. "Is that hoopla at the water tower over?"

Connie winced and resisted the urge to turn down her hearing aids. Sadie's mom hadn't cupped her hands around her mouth, she didn't even seem to be trying to shout, she just had a really loud and forceful voice.

Peridot nodded. "Affirmative. Everyone may return to the area, though they should be mindful of wet and debris-covered roadways."

"I'll tell 'em to keep it in granny gear," bellowed the woman. She then made a five point scan of the area, withdrew a whistle with the letters 'G. E. M.' printed on the side, raised it to her lips, and blew three short notes followed by one long one. She turned and disappeared the way she’d came.

A moment later the call, three short notes and one long, was repeated partway across town, and then repeated again even further away. Connie knew from past experience that the refreshments (and as many buttons and glow sticks as could be foisted on people) would be distributed and then the mayor's people would begin packing up the monster day papers and tables. People would be returning to home and work soon after.

Just another day in Beach City.

Something was tickling at the back of Connie's mind as they continued toward home. "You said mom had to break up Malachite before. Have Jasper and Lapis fused often?"

Peridot attempted to give Connie a comforting squeeze of the hand but she unwittingly raised her left hand to do it, the two tendrils moving clumsily and out of sync with one another. She withdrew the limb hastily and shot Connie an apologetic look. "My understanding is that it was a wartime necessity, but has become a post-war rarity. I have only witnessed it five times since coming to Earth, today included."

"Is Malachite always that..." Connie weighed the words that leapt to mind but none of them seemed adequate.

Fortunately, Peridot seemed able to follow Connie's line of thinking. "Yes, but I encourage you not to hold that against Lapis or Jasper. Fusion offers something of a warped lens through which to view the gems involved. Whatever powers it affords, whatever the experience it engenders," and Peridot seemed to shrink in on herself slightly, "it comes at a cost. To the individuals as well as those close to them."

"What about Garnet?"

The question tumbled out of Connie, surprising her once her ears reported hearing it spoken aloud.

Peridot turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised. "The perma-fusion? I couldn't say as I have never met the component Ruby or Sapphire. That two individuals would seek fusion in perpetuity raises some questions of their character. However, if I am considering the larger context, I think being in what amounts to millenia-long exile should constitute extenuating circumstances for deviant behavior." Peridot shrugged. "Gems are free to choose on Earth. It was your mother's credo and it extends even to a pair of Schism holdouts."

At this point the crowds were starting to appear. This earned the three of them cheerful nods and the occasional hurrah over 'beating Watermelon Godzilla and that weird snake thing.' Jeff and Peedee made sure to high five Connie, but only after unloading the bag of snacks they'd snagged for Wolf.

They each received a wet and appreciative lick across the face. From Wolf, not Connie.

* * *

Peridot and Wolf entered the Beach House, Connie trailing a little ways behind.

After filling Wolf's food bowl and water dish, Peridot started to walk toward the temple door when she stopped and turned to face Connie. "Is there anything you'd like to do, dear?"

Connie was loitering in the open doorway, having leaned inside only as far as she needed to snag her power sink off the hook. She'd then kicked off her muck-encrusted shoes and was in the process of banging them against the porch to knock the worst of it off. She turned around and said, "First, shower. Second, go straight back into my pajamas. Third..." She paused to give her guardian a searching look. "Third, have a pizza delivered and eat it while reading something fun in your room."

The tacit offer to help Peridot restore her limb enhancer brought a warm smile to the gem's face that reached all the way up to her eyes. "That's an agreeable course of action but only on the condition that we take a break thereafter to partake in some joint recreational activity. Say, heckling a film of known, substandard quality."

This time it was Connie's turn to smile. "Steven loaned me a bunch of old movies recently. I'm pretty sure he said there was one where Pierce Brosnan drives a truck through lava to save a dog."

Wolf raised his head from the food bowl to bark, though it was unclear whether at the movie choice or the implausible act of canine rescue.

"That film should serve handily. I'll ready the necessary audio-visual equipment while you get sanitized." And with that Peridot turned and walked through the temple door.

When Connie came inside a minute later, shoes left outside for a future hosing off, she entered with something approaching a relaxed expression. Turning to close the door behind her, she paused, staring at the ocean beyond. _Pyra's still out there. And Lapis is probably in some ocean trench right now. And who knows what Jasper's up to._

A hand went to her gemstone and she couldn't help but wonder. It had all worked out, sort of, but was this kind of barely-managed disaster going to be a recurring _thing_ for her as a Crystal Gem? It sounded like everything had run a lot more smoothly when her mom had been present... but that just raised more questions.

_Questions like... why?_

Peering down at the gemstone, Connie studied the familiar facets anew. Then she raised her head up to take in the serene expression on her mother's portrait.

_Gems are free to choose on Earth. It was your mother's credo._

"That's all well and good, but will I ever understand those choices?"

When the portrait failed to answer, Connie turned and headed for the bathroom.

With intelligent eyes, Wolf watched the girl go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The picture of Malachite fighting Pyra came from BurdenKing. _Strong in the Right Way_ was written by the Connie Swap Team and performed by MjStudioArts. The _Strong in the Real Way_ instrumental track ([found here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cFXM7cUrEk)) is from [Phizzy](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcV1EjpBgmIKkQRTO2g529g).
> 
> In case you're curious, here's a drawing MJ did of Jasper and Lapis' fusion dance, entitled _Angry Tango_. The outfits weren't quite so sharp while fighting Pyra, but the glares were.  
> 
> 
> Here is our internal model for the Connie Swap take on Malachite, or as I like to call her, the watermelon centaur of doom. I like how MJ and BurdenKing made the upper body have something like Lapis' outfit (plus Jasper's star) and then part of the lower body was covered with something like the one-sleeved bodysuit Jasper wears.  
> 
> 
> And so we come to the conclusion of _Highs and Lows_. This episode was intended to end last week but some more ideas for the final Peridot-Malachite showdown trickled in late into the development. It also meant we had time to write lyrics for and record the song! Anyway, we decided to put this update out during our 'off' week between episodes, with this effectively taking the place of the omake(s) we usually post at this time instead. So what that means is that you'll be able to tune in next Wednesday, June 6th, for the start of **Episode 23: Only Yesterday**.
>
>>   
>  Citrine fought so that gems could have the freedom to choose on Earth, and yet Connie is time and again confounded by some of the choices her mother made. The dangerous thing about asking questions is, sometimes you get answers.
> 
>   
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> If you have a Connie Swap story burning in your soul that you want to see in our official, curated Omake collection, drop us a comment either in the Omake fic or here in the main fic and we'll get in touch.
> 
> Connie Swap has an official Discord for the fans. [Come check it out.](https://discord.gg/RQMDdhr)
> 
> As usual, we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments and your asks at the [Connie Swap Tumblr](http://connieswap.tumblr.com/). Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Keeping track of all the updates to Connie Swap can get a little difficult, can't it? It doesn't have to be! If you go to the [Connie Swap Series](http://archiveofourown.org/series/630527) page and click the " **Subscribe** " button then you will receive an email alert every time a new episode is posted or a new chapter is added to _ANY_ fic in Connie Swap.
> 
> One button. All the updates.


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